Little Tsuna
by Pokere
Summary: Tsuna's death wasn't a huge deal to him. What was far more interesting was being reborn into a parallel universe as the adorable four year old brother of the next Vongola Decimo. Hah finally someone else will go through the Spartan Training! Also known as The Handy Guide To Dealing With the Mafia as an Adorable Young Tuna.
1. Chapter 1

**My first Katekyo Hitman Reborn fanfiction! I did take some inspiration from The Kid That Was Vongola Decimo by Initials-eMpTy. **

**I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn though which is good because I would probably mess up that masterpiece. However if I did, we'd see the Arcobaleno and the Vindice a lot more because they deserved more screen time.**

* * *

"We are gathered here today because someone," Reborn glared at the coffin, "Couldn't stay alive."

Tsuna's funeral very quickly dissolved into a brawl after that when Gokudera took offense to Reborn's comments and incited Ryohei to join him. That prompted most of the rest of the Guardians to fight with the Varia joining in for the hell of it. Reborn simply pulled out Leon and started firing into the dust cloud.

Gokudera froze when he heard the ominous rasp of tonfas. Hibari stepped away from the wall he had been leaning on, eyes flashing dangerously.

"For disturbing my nap, I will bite you all to death."

It took a while for poor Tsuna's funeral to continue. He hadn't even had a dignified death to speed it along (the short story is that sun flames activating a Pinzu Time Bomb explosion makes it ten times worse and unfortunately he was the closest to I-pin).

When it was finally continued there was much sobbing (Gokudera), wailing (Gokudera), and cackling (Mukuro). The Vongola was reluctantly passed back to Nono's leadership while Nana and Iemitsu worked on having a replacement child.

And so passed the sadly short reign of the Vongola Decimo from this world.

Unfortunately Sky users were plagued with trouble and often could not stay dead for long.*

* * *

Tsuna fully woke up when he was about one year old. He surveyed his bedroom from his crib.

 _Oh thank god_ , he thought, _at least I didn't have to remember being born_.

He then considered crying because how weird was his life that he didn't even care he had just died and been reborn? Then again he had dealt with far stranger things.**

Wasn't like he hadn't gained a baby for a tutor and then was taking over the mafia at a young age.

So instead the former Decimo settled back into the soft cushion to evaluate a life plan. (Reborn's training held firm even in the face of this. His tutor was scary and somehow would always know). This was promptly thrown into disarray when his mother finally returned to see him.

Tsuna cooed, beaming up at the face of his beautiful mother. He had missed her, paperwork and damages from his Guardian's brawls had kept piling up till he could barely steal a vacation. Granted it had become better when she had put herself to learning the mafia ways and rained unholy fury on the ones who kept her son away.*** He got his vacations after that.

"Tsu-kun! Did you miss your older brother, Ieyatsu?" She chirped. As if on cue, a boy poked his head into view.

Tsuna looked up at the vaguely ten year old blond who was apparently his older brother.

And beamed.

He ignored the thump as he inwardly cackled. New world where he could escape the Decimo title and all he had to do was conceal his true knowledge? Sign him up!

Let it be known that Tsuna had been wholly corrupted by Reborn and had gained the hitman's sadistic sense of humor. He was positively gleeful at the thought of someone else going through the Spartan training.

All he would need now would be a camera.

* * *

A year and a half later, Tsuna was regretting his joy.

It wasn't that Ieyatsu was just as clumsy as him and he had learned the hard way. It wasn't even that he should be regretting gleefully awaiting his brother's probable torture.

He was just really bored and lonely.

Being a two year old was hard. He had all the knowledge of a powerful mafia boss but nothing to do with it. He had briefly considered contacting Kawahira to reveal the Arcobaleno solution but dismissed it.

Cruel as it was, he had no idea if Reborn would stay with the Vongola and Checkerface had a tendency to attack people that he decided were a threat. And having knowledge of the timeline could be a threat right now.

He couldn't even await his Guardians' chaos because they weren't _his_ Guardians anymore.

Man, keeping timelines on the right track was really depressing.

The adorable boy flopped down in the dirt, pouting at the sky. Even sending Ieyatsu into cuteness overload wasn't as fun as it could be.**** What did it say about him that he was barely scraping by without some degree of chaos?

He blamed Reborn.

So he did something that could definitely screw with the timeline if it was ever found out and probably would freak out Ieyatsu so much.

Tsuna burst into orange flames. He tempered them down and hummed as the relaxing harmony poured into his mind. God, it was always like being on drugs whenever he did it. It took him forever to learn the trick to it though.

"Gao."

Tsuna jolted up immediately because he recognized that growl. It took everything he had not to burst into manly don tears.*****

The tiny sky lion purred as it slowly drew closer and Tsuna jumped up, lunging forward to bundle it in his arms. If it hadn't been for Reborn's training, he probably would have fallen over. He hiccuped quietly into Natsu's mane.

He wasn't alone.

His forehead flame extinguished as he regarded the little cat. The whys could come later, now he had to bend his cuteness to a purpose. A purpose he would complete with his dying Will.

Namely convincing Nana that a lion cub with a fiery mane was a perfectly normal cat and a great pet for a two year old to have.

Tsuna slowly trotted into the kitchen, smiling radiantly. "Mama! Tsu can have?" He said. Nana turned away from the stove to regard her younger son. He had masterfully disguised the flaming mane of Natsu. By wrapping his scarf around the cat's neck then using the other end as a leash.

Tsuna upped the cuteness factor and beamed up at his mother. "Gao?" Natsu asked. Nana squealed and pulled out a camera.

"Daw, Tsu has found a friend!" She cooed. God he loved her obliviousness to weirdness. Ieyatsu looked up from where he was struggling with homework and frowned.

"I don't know, that cat looks weird. What if it hurts Tsuna!" Ieyatsu had inherited Iemitsu's pure adoration of his son. Made more powerful by Tsuna's unconscious pure adorableness. Which was insanely fun to play with.

Tsuna scooped up Natsu as best as he could and turned to look at his brother. His eyes shone with tears, his smile wobbled, and even Natsu started to look sad. "But… Tsu likes him!" Ieyatsu went down like a lead balloon.

"What will you name him?" Nana asked, putting away her camera. The sad puppy look vanished as Tsuna put Natsu back down and turned to his mother.

"Natsu!"

* * *

Two years later brought a knock on the door. Tsuna giggled as he watched Nana, ignoring the sparkly aura it gave off, and patted Natsu. The little lion now had a lovely orange collar neck vest to go with his hat. Which worked well to conceal his mane and make the cat even cuter.

Finally his boredom would be at an end.

* * *

*See Byakuran.

**See Reborn, Gokudera at times, pretty much all of his guardians, Xanxus and the Varia in general and the time he traveled to the future. At least he hadn't woken up in a coffin.

***Nana was a scary woman when people messed with her kids. Somehow Iemitsu had totally missed it.

****Tsuna was cute in general and becoming younger had compressed the cuteness and made it a 100x more powerful. Reborn had taught him well.

*****Which Reborn had instead referred to as 'wimpy dame tears' before beating him with a hammer.

* * *

 **And there's the first chapter! If anyone is curious, my logic for Natsu was that he basically connected to Tsuna and sort of became like an Arcobaleno companion. Therefore his connection to Tsuna's Flames dragged him along when Tsuna was reborn. Unofficially though? Tsuna would totally get lonely without someone and this also gave him a defense.**

 **Please review, follow, or favorite! I write faster! Plus I love reading reviews.**


	2. Reborn!

**Personally I just want to thank everybody, I did not think the story would be this loved!**

* * *

Tsuna hummed as he finished slotting fresh batteries into the kitchen. In the background, he was waiting to hear the thumping as Ieyatsu fell down the stairs once again. Huh, in another world that would have been him. He affectionately rubbed Natsu's head and powered the camera on.

This could make a fabulous anime or something.

"Hie!" Tsuna jerked up, the camera flying out of his hands. Natsu hissed as it nearly landed on his head and jerked away from the panicking tuna.

It wasn't his fault! Reborn was just suddenly there in the room like some ninja or something!* He scooped up the camera and attempted to regain his scraps of dignity.

He hadn't even heard the door opening!

Then fell back onto his butt as Natsu dove into his lap and attempted to burrow away from the baby hitman. Reborn seemed unfazed by the two as Tsuna could finally hear the rhythmic thumping of the stairs. Reborn turned towards the stairs with an ominous smirk.

Was that music he was hearing in the background?!

Tsuna scrambled back to his feet, dumping Natsu on the floor, and carefully walked over to Nana. "Is he my new friend?" He asked. Reborn twitched away from examining Ieyatsu, hand inching towards his gun.

"No no dear," Nana said, smiling brightly down at him,"He's here to tutor your brother!" Ieyatsu folded his arms and Tsuna discretely passed the camera to Natsu.**This was going to be good.

"Ciaossu. I am here to make you into a mafia boss."

Ieyatsu started to laugh and thereby sealed his doom as a chew toy. Tsuna started to hum a funeral dirge. He had always liked tulips, though they probably weren't very funeral appropriate.

"Nana, he is just a baby! This is just some scam and I am not going to be taught by some toddler!" Ieyatsu whined, earning himself a kick in the head. Tsuna sighed with joy (which really just looked like average toddler antics). Finally someone else to be tor-tutored! Though just to hammer it in a bit…

Tsuna gasped, his eyes going bright and shiny. His head cocked at the perfect angle to allow the light to fall just right and illuminate the gathering tears while also subtly accenting his pout. It also caused the light to give him a subtle, almost angelic, glow, pose 3.8 of the Kicked Puppy subset. "Brother? Are you saying I'm not smart?" He whimpered. Natsu shrunk down next to him, whining slightly.

Instantly Ieyatsu back pedaled, hands flailing. "No of course not! But it's just, uh, just- Hey look at the time! I need to get to school!" He said, scrambling up.

Tsuna perked up immediately, taking his camera back from Natsu. "I'll walk you there!" He chirped. Ieyatsu sprinted out the door, unknowing of his younger brother and the hitman slipping out after him. The door closed softly behind him as Tsuna ran to catch up.

Of course Reborn caught up easily to Ieyatsu.

He most definitely wanted to be there though for the first dying Will bullet.***

Tsuna wheezed slightly. It was hard running so fast in a younger body and he wasn't ashamed to admit (yes he was hopefully Reborn would never find out) that he usually got Natsu to carry him. Except the lazy lion had stayed home with Nana.

Plus it would probably be kind of noticeable. Four year old riding around on a giant cat that was wearing a cap and turtleneck sweater.

Then again, Reborn.

Tsuna stumbled as he finally caught up to Ieyatsu. "Kyoko!" He looked up to once again see the school idol as well as his childhood crush.

He snorted as he pulled out his camera. Ieyatsu look utterly spellbound, enough to forget about the baby hitman on his head. Who was staring down at Tsuna ominously. Tsuna fumbled the camera and attempted to sweetly smile back up.

Also where was that music coming from again?

Wait did everyone seriously have theme music? Someone was laughing at his life right now.

Tsuna just focused on getting the camera on and aimed, completely missing the "Hahi!" in the background. "Big bro's first crush! Am I going to get a big sister?" He asked, voice positively dripping in sweetness. Ieyatsu spluttered.

"No way! Kyoko is way out of my league. She's the school idol and the most perfect, and cutest, girl to ever exist!" Ieyatsu said. He glanced down quickly. "Though she isn't as cute as my little Tuna Fishy!"

Oh god flashbacks, flashbacks. Ieyatsu was way too much like Iemitsu. He sort of regretted his cuteness right now.

"That isn't very fitting behavior for a mafia boss, Dame Ieyatsu." Reborn remarked, jumping down from his perch. Tsuna twitched slightly, memories of Leon Mallets coming back to haunt him instead. Ieyatsu groaned.

"I'm not a mafia boss, baby!" Reborn jump kicked him again, Leon shifting to the form of a gun.

"So if you died right now, you'd regret not confessing?" Reborn inquired. Tsuna snorted. Not like the hitman didn't already know the answer to that. Ieyatsu seemed pole axed however.

Was he ever that bad?

"Thanks for answering my question. Die." Reborn raised the Leon Gun and fired.

For a moment, Tsuna's heart seemed to stop. The camera bobbed in his shaking hands. If he moved right now, activated his flames, he could shove Ieyatsu out of the path of the bullet. Save his life- Tsuna forced his chubby hands to stop shaking, shoved away all the bad ominous memories away.

Of a future that had never been but would be again.

He still couldn't quite get his heart out of his throat.

Ieyatsu seemed to fly back, ridiculously high and far, in slow motion. Tsuna shrunk back in his orange hoodie. He wobbled again in relief as Ieyatsu's body seemed to glow, his clothes burning away.

Oh hello there ducky boxers. You will make great blackmail material.

"REBORN! CONFESS TO KYOKO WITH MY DYING WILL!" Tsuna lunged forward, clamping on to his brother's leg. There was no way he was going to miss this show. The blackmail material it would be!

Even with his tight koala grip though, Tsuna was struggling not to fall off. Luckily it was a pretty fast trip to the school. He released Ieyatsu's leg, rolling across the ground and popping up, camera already in his hands.

Oh he was right. This was comedy gold. He made sure to zoom in on the look on Ieyatsu's face when he realized what was happening.

"Wow Iey-kun! I didn't know you like duckies!" Tsuna chipped in with a wicked smile. Ieyatsu blushed and flailed.

"No Tsuna! LOOK _AWAY_!" That was an impressive shriek. Ieyatsu practically sprinted into the school. Tsuna just hummed cheerfully, tucking his camera away into his hoodie pocket. It wouldn't do to be caught at the school when it started without a pass.**** His Intuition seemed to ping and he looked up to Reborn's stare.

Heh. "Wanna hug?' Tsuna asked, spreading his arms wide. Oh how he loved innocent cuteness.

"Hitmen don't hug people." Reborn remarked drily. Tsuna giggled.

"You're funny Reborn." He said skipping away.

His walk home was long and meandering. Cheerfully, he unleashed the chihuahua from the nearby house and herded it to their yard to await Ieyatsu's return. Tsuna giggled again as he put out some food and water. After all, a mafia boss shouldn't be afraid of dogs.

He shuddered briefly at remembering what Reborn had done to desensitize him. Never again.

"I'm home Mama!" Tsuna yelled. He shrugged off his hoodie and left it folded by the door after removing the camera. Nana poked her head out from the kitchen.

"Ah Tsu-kun! I'm going grocery shopping. We'll need more stuff since Reborn is staying with us. Do you want to go with?" Tsuna smiled back at her. It was hard not to be happy around Nana.

"No I'm good." He said, heading up the stairs to his room. It was about time he strategized what to do for the future.

Tsuna nudged Natsu off the center of the bed, sprawling across it. The sky lion looked disgruntled, curling up on top of the pillow. Tsuna kicked his feet idly, staring at the floor.

 _Mafia Boss Rule 270: Always assess your situation._

From where he had started, Ieyatsu wasn't that bad off. Will to protect his 'cute Tuna Fishy' as well as another Sky in the household had made him slightly better. Incredibly clumsy but grades slightly better so not to be a bad influence on his little brother.

What he was really worried about were people who could reveal him.

Tsuna flopped even more, slowly sliding over the side of the bed. Luckily Reborn couldn't actually read minds, and was only extremely adept at body language.

Still the Arcobaleno were all on the list. They weren't world renowned for nothing. However Reborn could provide a good cover. Eventually his weirdness would just be put down to the chaotic hitman.

Byakuran also worried him. He could see through parallel timelines which a frankly ridiculous power. Which means he could guess that Tsuna wasn't from this timeline. Honestly the marshmallow obsessed Sky was going to be the death of him (Tsuna resolutely ignored the fact that Byakuran had technically killed him once).

Mitigation? Bribe with marshmallows and someone to watch the show with.

If not he could always hold the marshmallows hostage.

"Gao?" Natsu meowed. Tsuna smiled, reaching up to rub at the cat's head. The sky lion purred happily.

"Don't worry, I won't let you get hurt." Tsuna reassured, ignoring the feeling that his eyes had flashed Sky orange. His cowardly pet seemed to feel better though, settling back onto the pillow.

Honestly sometimes Natsu was the only one keeping him grounded. The feeling of Disharmony in his flames from technically losing his Guardians had been alleviated by just the lion's presence. Not to mention, when they figured out how to make him go full lion sized (and then some), he made quite a good ride.

Plus it was just epic.

Tsuna pinged his Intuition and finding everything okay, reached under the bed. He fumbled around the wooden slats before his fingers finally drifted over the spot.

A little hidey hole he had made when he realized that the time was drawing close. Tsuna tugged at the object inside before finally pulling out a large box. It landed with a thump and he helped slight before looking around, embarrassed.

Quickly he opened it. Tsuna tugged out a pair of hand knitted mittens with 27 on them and felt them heat up slightly in his fingers.

Those had been his longest project when he had woken up. For one thing, they had to be hand knitted carefully. But finally he had recreated his battle gloves. He tossed them on the bed. He'd need to keep them close by now.

The rest of the box was almost boring by comparison. Extra cameras and batteries, a waterproof photo box, and a cookbook filled with scrawled notes. Tsuna lifted this one out and flipped through it carefully.

At first it seemed normal but soon it devolved into notes about his, and therefore now Ieyatsu's most embarrassing moments. He needed to be there to capture the moment after all. He tucked it away into the box, resolutely ignoring the small iron checkerboard that lurked at the bottom of the box.

(It had a horse head engraved on the bottom corner. He couldn't tell if Kawahira was threatening him or had just watched too much of the Godfather. The day it had shown up on his bed, Tsuna had beat his head against the wall and pulled a Yamamoto on the lingering traces of powerful Mist flames in his room. It never happened.)*****

Tsuna returned the box to under his bed, looking at Natsu with a lazy grin. "Looks like our fun is about to start." He yawned. "Wonder if I can show up at the kendo match."

* * *

Omake

"Oh Tsu-kun! There's an antique shop over there!" Tsuna turned, all smiles before abruptly freezing. The smile slowly slid of his face as he read the sign.

"Kawahira's Antiques"

"Tsu-kun?" Tsuna slowly backed away. Nope. Not even going there. _It did not exist._

* * *

*Luckily he wasn't a ninja. Tsuna was pretty sure Fon was one though.

**Another priority he had done. Obviously he couldn't always be able to record.

***It was what kicked off the beautiful chaos. Also his memory of waking up almost naked and confessing to Kyoko was something to be treasured. When watching another person go through it.

****Hibari did seem slightly more lenient on adorably fluffy four year olds but that only went so far.

*****He also ignored the mysterious antique shop that sometimes appeared. Nope.

* * *

 **Please review, favorite or follow! It helps me write faster! I hope you enjoy!**


	3. Tsuna Needs a New Hobby

**This chapter was actually my most difficult one so far because my writing muse looked at the funny story and was like add more angst.**

* * *

Tsuna actually nearly overslept. Were it not for the courageous actions of his box animal, i.e. the lion pushing him off the bed, he would have missed Ieyatsu's match with Mochida.

As it was, he was sprinting down the road to the school. Thanking every gods above he hadn't been Sealed because by now he would have tripped five times, face planted into a pole, and rolled straight into traffic.

He had lived a dangerous life.

Tsuna took his camera out as he slipped into the school. He had to be very quiet for this operation, use all of his sneakiness.

"Herbivore."

His Reborn would have murdered him for lack of sneaks. Tsuna slowly and reluctantly turned to see the school prefect, one Hibari Kyoya. And there was the ominous rasp of tonfas slipping out.

"Being on school grounds without a pass is forbidden." Hibari continued and Tsuna twitched slightly. Small animal status only mattered so much.

He really wished for some epic fighting moves to pull out right now. Except flames were a bad idea, too much attention would be drawn, and well he was a four year old. Somehow between a suspicious Reborn, Hibari biting became the lesser of the two evils.

Tsuna's brain short circuited and he threw his shoe at Hibari's head.

Oh dear god it actually took the prefect down for a second.

Tsuna legged it around the corner, making a note to hold a funeral for the shoe. It had gone out bravely in battle. Its sacrifice would not be forgotten.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he finally slipped into the crowded gym, slipping through the crowd to the front. "Finally." He muttered, powering the camera on. And just in time too.

"REBORN! DEFEAT MOCHIDA WITH MY DYING WILL!" Looks like the ducky boxers were still there.

Something in Tsuna's mind moved and he glanced up to the rafters.

Huh, he hadn't noticed in his timeline but apparently for a little bit up in the rafters, Reborn was in a bat cosplay.

He had to admit the man looked adorable in it. And yet terrifying at the same time.*

As soon as the fight was over, Tsuna had powered the camera down and was bouncing forwards. "You did good Iey-kun!" He cheered. Unknown to him, sparkles and flowers seemed to appear in the background. Ieyatsu's eyes seemed to shine and Tsuna jerked as he was suddenly in a crushing hug. "Ieyatsu… Air."

"My cute little brother thinks I'm cool." Ieyatsu sobbed. This was followed by almost violently throwing Tsuna away when he realized he was still naked. Tsuna tucked and rolled, popping up immediately.

Tsuna giggled as he watched Ieyatsu approach their house, arguing with Reborn. "You shot m- OH MY GOD."

Looks like the dog was still there.

Tsuna happily skipped past up into the house. Natsu gao'd at him from their cushion as he swept past. It was about time they worked on their other hobby for a while.

Tonight was boring anyway.

* * *

Tsuna giggled as he stitched the fabric. He blamed Haru, Reborn, and Lussuria for this hobby. Cosplaying was just so fun to do and he could see why Reborn loved it so much. (Ignoring how with a well sewn and occasionally, an utterly ridiculous cosplay could make you slid right out of people's minds).

He hadn't really gotten into it that much.** But he had to knit his mittens by himself and Natsu's outfits were just easier to do by hand. Then it escalated to little sweaters, crafting a fake mane so Natsu wouldn't need his sweater all the time, and then to creating a gladiator costume with matching armor for Natsu.

Go big or go home.

There was something about stitching, it was almost calming. Tsuna barely even noticed when someone dropped on his windowsill.

"You sew?" Tsuna jerked, nearly ruining the stitch he was working on. He glanced up to see Reborn perched on his windowsill. Huh, he must have finished with Ieyatsu for a bit.

"A bit. Mom taught me so now I'm making cool costumes for me and Natsu." Natsu crept closer to investigate the baby, still an arm's reach away.***

"Your brother is going to be a mafia boss." Reborn added levelly.

Tsuna look up and smiled, sparkles and bunnies appearing around him. "He is? That's so cool! Can I help?" Next door he could hear a yell of happiness.

Reborn jumped out of the window. "It's rude to eavesdrop Dame Ieyatsu."

He was going to be helping anyway.

* * *

Tsuna actually nearly missed the volleyball match.

It wasn't his fault considering as soon as he stepped foot on school grounds, Hibari had appeared out of nowhere.

Did everyone develop ninja skills except Ieyatsu?

His morning had been interesting. First Ieyatsu had woken him up by screaming like a girl because of Reborn. Natsu had refused to be coaxed out from under the bed. Then Ieyatsu had been sulking at the table.

Seriously he had just been making small talk with Reborn. Tsuna smiled sweetly at him. "Ah Iey-kun, your nose is bleeding again." Apparently the cuteness only grew more powerful with time.

Eventually he had coaxed Natsu out and set off for the school where he was then accosted.

"Herbivore." Well that was bad news. Tsuna blinked as Hibari held up his shoe.

"Hibari Kyoya?" Tsuna parroted. Hibari threw the shoe at him. It thumped into his head and Tsuna fell back with a pitiful whine. He could hear the rasping of the tonfas.

"I will bite you to death Herbivore."

Screw undercover.

"SKY LION NO JUTSU!"

Natsu tugged on his flames and Tsuna smiled slightly as he could feel a familiar roaring heat. The Sky lion lunged forward, snagging the back of his shirt before taking off across the school.

He was unceremoniously dropped after a few corners and Tsuna giggled, rubbing Natsu's head as the lion shrunk back down.

He probably just signed him and Natsu up for many rounds of Hibari but whatever. Tsuna snagged Natsu's leash and slipped in the gym with little time to spare. At least it was vaguely worth it.

Tsuna headed out as soon as Ieyatsu had, uh, blocked the ball. After this was just boring things.

"Che. So this is the Vongola Decimo candidate." Tsuna looked over and his eyes sparkled. He would know that silver haired person anywhere. He bounced over, tugging along Natsu with him.

"That's my super cool brother for you!" Tsuna chirped, radiating sweetness and light. Gokudera's hand automatically went for his pockets before falling away as he sneered at the younger kid.

"Your brother? You must be as bad as he is." This called for position 3.4-5 from the sorrowful cuteness set.

"But-but." Tsuna hiccuped slightly, eyes filling with tears. Gokudera twitched, sneer falling.

"Well, um, I'm going to defeat him!" Gokudera said, background bursting into flames. Tsuna giggled, tugging Natsu closer. The Sky lion obediently curled into his side for once.

"You're funny. I think I love you!" Gokudera's face cracked before he turned and stomped away.

"Herbivore." Tsuna shrieked as Natsu bodily climbed over him, yanking the leash away and fleeing. Tsuna zoomed into the gym, nearly jumping into his brother's arms.

"Tsu-?" Ieyatsu managed before Tsuna pretty much kicked him into Hibari's way. Survival of the fittest, or just sacrificing your family to a worst evil. Meh same thing. Tsuna leaped away, already weaving through people to get outside. As soon as he was out, everyone started screaming.

Tsuna didn't slow down till he had reached home. Dinner was awkward considering Ieyatsu was nursing some nasty bruises that Reborn could care less about. Tsuna perked up.

"I forgot! I made this for you last night." Tsuna said digging into his hoodie pocket. That was a lie, he had been making these sort of things as soon as he had learned to knit and sew.

He pulled it out triumphantly. It was a little black scarf with a pattern of chameleons on it. Reborn took it delicately.

"Thank you Tsunayoshi." Ieyatsu burst into tears.

"Why does my brother care more about the evil baby than me?" Ieyatsu whined. Reborn expertly snapped the scarf into one of his still healing bruises earning a yelp.

"Bosses don't whine, Dame Ieyatsu." Reborn said cheerfully. Tsuna giggled happily, clapping.

"Reborn isn't evil." He said cheerfully. He was but Tsuna wasn't going to admit that.

* * *

At least Hibari hadn't seen him as he clambered up to watch Ieyatsu's battle. Tsuna settled in comfortably, half glad he had left Natsu behind. The little cat was just a bit obvious.

"Che! I'll beat you and take the Vongola Decimo position!" Gokudera yelled. For some reason, this only served to make Ieyatsu angry.

"Nobody will touch my little brother!" Tsuna pulled out the popcorn, setting the camera to record.

"DOUBLE BOMB!"

"REBORN! BEAT GOKUDERA AND SAVE MY LITTLE BROTHER WITH MY DYING WILL! DEFUSE DEFUSE DEFUSE." That was different.

Ieyatsu flung himself into defusing bombs, inadvertently saving Gokudera's life. Tsuna smiled, popping another piece of popcorn in his mouth. He had to admit, he was kind of proud of Ieyatsu.

"I don't care about being the Vongola Boss! I dream of a world where Tsuna can live surrounded by adorable animals and flowers!" Ieyatsu declared, striking a pose.

Tsuna nearly choked on his popcorn, hitting his chest.

"That is truly an inspiring dream! I will be your right hand man, Jyuudaime!" Gokudera declared as well. Tsuna could practically see the puppy tail. He put the popcorn and camera away, jumping down from his perch.

"That was cool!" Ieyatsu did a double take.

"Tsu-chan! Shouldn't you be safe at home!" Reborn wandered in, smirking.

"Looks like you have gained your first subordinate, Dame Ieyatsu. The rules are the loser serves the winner." Reborn said. Ieyatsu glared.

"I don't wanna be the Decimo or whatever! And I don't want a servant!" He snapped.

Tsuna pouted, sparkles appearing. "Ieyatsu be nice! You got your first friend!" Ieyatsu melted.

"Heh looks like someone's skipping class." Tsuna glanced over, barely registering the delinquents. He could take them easily. Gokudera grinned darkly, dynamite snapping to life.

"Looks like it's time for me to prove myself to you Jyuudaime."

"GOKUDERA NO!" Ieyatsu yelled. Tsuna giggled, looking at Reborn.

"I think they are going to do great together. Good job Hitman-san!" Reborn tipped his fedora. Dang Leon was cute.

* * *

*Reborn was one of the few people who could wear an absolutely ridiculous outfit and somehow make it look like the most terrifying but classy outfit on Earth.

**The evil paperwork had to be defeated quickly, lest it multiply.

***Natsu was terrified of Reborn. Considering how he reflected Tsuna's personality, he could see why.

* * *

 **So Gokudera has finally come in and Tsuna is sacrificing Ieyatsu to the unholy Hibari gods!**

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	4. Antiques, and Exploding Cows

**Thanks for all of the reviews, favorites, and follows! I hope you all have a great day!**

* * *

Tsuna yawned, wishing more than everything he could go home and go to bed. The sun was barely up! Unfortunately because someone was mean, this would be the best time to find it.

Though of course it was halfway across town when he finally tracked it down.

Tsuna gazed blearily at the sign. Not even Natsu was awake right now. The young boy sighed and finally stepped forward, jumping up to pull the door open.

The shop owner really needed to clean up. The store was brightly lit but the shelves were crowded with random knickknacks. Tsuna could almost taste the Mist flames woven into the air.

He wove through the shelves up to where a white haired man in a green yukata sat, eating ramen.

"Kawahira?"

The man looked up, moving the ramen to the side. "Tsuna. What brings you here?" Tsuna willed himself to remain still and calm as calculating eyes fell on him.*

Tsuna smiled. "A tutor showed up to pick up my brother which reminded me I needed to get something." Kawahira craned his head slightly to see Tsuna.

"And what would said necessary object be?" Kawahira asked. Tsuna hummed cheerfully.

"Know where I could get an Earth flame ring?" Kawahira seemed slightly taken aback. Tsuna adjusted his scarf for maximum cuteness, feigning boredom.

The ring was actually really important but he wasn't going to let Kawahira know that. He didn't want to risk the man going Checkerface on him for some reason. Kawahira did seem like the only other person to know of his little trip across the timelines. Which had put Tsuna in a bad position already.

"I suppose I do." The air temperature seemed to drop. "But I'll need a favor."

Tsuna nodded reluctantly. "I'm not killing anyone." The ring would not be worth that.

"No I wouldn't need something like that. I'd rather you hold the Sky Vongola ring for me." Tsuna jerked, Sky flames flaring to life.

"I don't plan on being Vongola Decimo." Tsuna said, smile turning a bit more frosty.

Kawahira snorted. "I suppose not. But you don't have to be the Vongola Decimo to hold the Vongola ring. You are far more qualified than your brother for its unique properties for now."

Tsuna sighed, running a hand through his hair and fluffing it up more. "Sure I guess." He kind of felt like he was selling his soul to the devil.

The Mist flames spiked and he noticed there was a box on the counter that wasn't there before. He sighed, thumping his head into the counter. Kawahira just cheerfully pulled out two items and the box vanished again. Tsuna's flames spiked, recognizing the familiar power of the ring.

"So what happens with Ieyatsu then?"

"I swapped in some fairly powerful fakes. Should go all according to plan." Kawahira said. Tsuna took the items and the Mist flames subtly spiked again, nudging at him to leave.

Tsuna rolled his eyes and was out the door quickly. Of course when he turned around again, the shop had vanished.

At least he had what he had came for.

He jumped onto a bench and pulled out his loot. The Vongola ring seemed to warm in his hand, gaining an orange sheen. Far away he could feel Natsu's tired questioning tug on his flames. Tsuna ended up finding a piece of yarn in his pockets and making a makeshift necklace for the ring, tucking it under his shirt where nobody would see.

A pause. Tsuna took a deep breath as he looked at the Earth flame ring. Somehow it had been tied with ribbon just so to look like a red bow tie.

Fine. It would increase his cuteness by a factor of dapper. Tsuna fixed the bow tie onto his neck and jumped off the bench. He'd have to get home soon, the sun was already up.

He could have sworn he had seen a flash of black and white when he walked into the yard.

Tsuna was in the kitchen in time for breakfast. "Ah Tsu I saved you breakf-" Ieyatsu fell over, nose spewing blood. He'd probably have to work on that.

Exposure would make the thing grow weaker right?

"Hi Mama! I went on an adventure!" He chirped. Nana smiled brightly back, creating an aura of pure glowing happiness that mixed with his own.

Tsuna jumped up to the table. "Hiya Reborn!" He turned to regard the clock, face scrunching up. "Ieyatsu shouldn't you head to school." He settled back, satisfied by Ieyatsu's scream of dismay.

Ieyatsu rushed out the door, eventually followed by a sedate Reborn. Tsuna ate his breakfast quietly until his Intuition stopped pinging.

He slipped out of his chair, jumping up the steps. Tsuna closed the door firmly and listened to the sound of silence.

It was boring.

Tsuna reached up to fiddle with his bow tie and reach for his Will. Slowly Natsu started to rise up. The cat's eyes snapped open and it began to screech and flail. "Sorry!" Tsuna said, dropping the cat back onto the bed. But it was a start at least.

Tsuna cackled evilly. Gravity was now under his rule, screw the laws of physics.

He really couldn't use his Sky flame. One because people would question where he got it and two because it made him available for the Decimo position.

Tsuna had fobbed that off onto Ieyatsu, he wasn't taking it back.

But Earth flames and mostly Oath flames gave him a good cover.** It looked weird to an observer and would hopefully be enough to dissuade anyone from making him Decimo.

Tsuna ended up consulting his cookbook and sighed. He thought today would be an off day! Then again, chaos. He knew he had been missing something.

Tsuna opened the window and hopped out into the tree. Yep, one of the branches were broken.

Might as well head to school and introduce himself to the new family member. Tsuna shimmied down the tree and skipped away after checking he had the camera.

He was a lot more careful when he was on school grounds. The mission seemed a lot more ominous with the threat of Hibari looming over him.*** Tsuna paused, trying to remember where he had taken Lambo.

"GYAHAHA!" Oh that's where. Tsuna fished out his camera, practically bouncing over.

"Iey-chan!" Ieyatsu turned with a shriek, ignoring the cow in the background. He flailed.

"Tsuna! What are you doing here?" Tsuna nearly answered before deciding that was what plebeians did. Instead he craned his head around to see Lambo who was getting held by an irate Gokudera.

"I WILL KILL YOU REBORN!" Lambo shrieked, taking out a grenade. Tsuna raised an eyebrow, slightly impressed by Reborn's secret hideout.

The age old question: how did he get those?

Reborn swatted Lambo away like a fly, causing the poor cow to be blown up. "Tol-er-ate." Lambo said, visibly trying not to cry. Tsuna melted on the inside but resolutely began to film.

He always had a soft spot for his Guardians.

And there was the Ten Years Later Bazooka. Huh, was he ever hit by that thing outside of the Future Arc?

Tsuna couldn't remember. TYL!Lambo appeared with a pop of pink smoke and Tsuna decided to intervene. Reborn could be mean. He turned the camera off and slipped it into his hoodie pocket before lunging forward.

He clung to TYL!Lambo's, sparkly aura already on. "Iey-chan did you get me a new big brother?" Ieyatsu spluttered.

"Oh? Tsuna you looked so small back then." Tsuna twitched. Must not strangle the cow.**** He helped as he was yanked up into a choking hug. "Ah you were so cute!" Tsuna struggled, nearly screeching as Gokudera dove forward to wrestle TYL!Lambo.

"You idiot! You aren't worthy to touch Jyuudaime's little brother!" Tsuna slipped out from the fight, sitting near Reborn.

"I like your curls." He commented sweetly. It wasn't a lie. Those things were really cute and he wanted to touch them so bad. Reborn didn't even deign to reply and Tsuna nearly huffed in anger until he realized the baby was sleeping.

Tsuna turned away from the hitman and instead focused on Leon. He nearly had the chameleon coaxed into his hand before the bazooka went off.

Tsuna pouted as the little animal scuttled away back onto Reborn's shoulder. He would win him over eventually!

He pulled his knees up and looked at Ieyatsu. "Lambo's fun! Can we keep him?" Ieyatsu looked visibly torn. On one hand he hated the cow, on the other, it was his cute little brother. He completely missed Tsuna's quiet desolate sigh.

With great cuteness came great responsibility.

Tsuna ended up walking the cow home, ignoring the explosions and loud chattering with an expert ear. He turned Lambo over to his mother who apparently had instantly won over the boy and went up for a nap.

He was positively gleeful when he later skipped into Ieyatsu's room and gasped at this sight of the woman there. "Iey-chan you brought me a big sister too?"

* * *

 _Omake_

Tsuna glared at his little lion. Natsu had wrapped himself up in yarn, nearly unraveling his favorite sweater.

"Gao?" Tsuna fished out a yarn ball from a box and threw it at the wall. Natsu leaped for it, hopelessly entangling himself in yarn with a yowl. Tsuna sighed as he looked at the pitiful sky lion.

"Fine, hold still."

Somehow it ended up with him entangled as well, calling for Mama.

* * *

*Kawahira always seemed like he was planning something. He swore he was innocent, but Tsuna was convinced something was going on.

**He missed Enma really bad. The boy had practically been his soulfriend. They had bonded over sheer terror and what Reborn said was cowardliness.

***Hibari was terrifying without even being there.

****Tsuna was sensitive about his height. And his girly looks. And his voice.

* * *

 **Hope you guys like this chapter! We see less of Natsu but Kawahira has finally stepped in!**

 **Please Review, Favorite, or Follow! The more reviews I get, the quicker I write!**


	5. Hahi!

**Sorry this took so long! This chapter really fought with me. Thank you all for being patient and I seriously love those who left reviews, favorites, or who followed.**

* * *

"Gah! The great Lambo tells you to stop!"

Tsuna sighed, moving the bowl away. He just wanted to test the mysterious black hole that was Lambo's hair! He had seen the kid hide candy, grenades, a bazooka, a dead body, and guns in there! How did that even work? Earth flames to create a literal black hole?

"Test number 2 then." Tsuna chirped. Lambo shrieked as he was electrocuted slightly. The kid whined, throwing a grenade.

Tsuna automatically threw it back* and Lambo shrieked again as he was blown through the open window. Nana poked her head out from the kitchen, looking around in confusion.

"Was Lambo here?" Tsuna shrugged, flopping back onto Natsu. The cat twitched but didn't resist becoming a pillow.

It looked like his plans for world domination had been stymied for now.

Tsuna didn't even bat an eye at the "Hahi?!" from outside.

It was too early for this. Nap time! Tsuna ignored the fact that anytime was nap time for him now. He awkwardly stood up from Natsu and wandered into Ieyatsu's room and rolled under the bed. Evil experiments could continue later.

* * *

Ieyatsu shrieked when his little brother poked his head out from under the bed in the middle of their homework session. Gokudera cursed, dynamites unlighting before he bowed at Ieyatsu's feet.

"Jyuudaime I'm so sorry for threatening your brother!" Tsuna blinked and looked up from examining Yamamoto. He had been threatened?**

"Oh I didn't know you had a brother!" Yamamoto said, chuckling slightly. Tsuna was really worried about him. That level of obliviousness could be unhealthy. Then again, Nana was fine.

"What are you doing?" Tsuna asked, glancing over the paper.

"Trying to fill out a homework problem. You want to help little fishy?" Tsuna resolutely ignored his older brother, scooting back under the bed.

"Sorry. I need to be paid first." Tsuna ignored the shrieking from outside the bed, toying with his camera. He giggled as he rewatched the first Dying will mode over and over. That never got old.

"GAHHHH!"

Tsuna poked his head out again. "You called?"

"He's so cute!" Tsuna yelped as he was pulled out from his safe spot by Haru and snuggled to death.

"Hey! Leave my brother alone you weirdo!" Ieyatsu said, trying to grab Tsuna away. Tsuna pushed down the urge to cry. They were all weird! Tsuna wheezed, cursing his four year old body. He flailed as he was dropped on the floor, scrambling back under the bed.

Ieyatsu and Haru glared at each other, tension visibly spiking between them.

Both jumped as the door began to hiss and purple began to ooze through. "Haru asked the nice pink haired lady for help!" Gokudera moaned, doubling over.

The door swung open and Tsuna ran over. "Bianchi!" He cheered. Bianchi patted him on the head, handing him a piece of poisonous candy and nudging him out the door. Tsuna made a note to destroy the candy later, ignoring Ieyatsu's corner of emo.

The tiny brunet took his chance, fleeing to the safety of his room and cat.

* * *

This was supposed to be the safe film.

He probably shouldn't have even filmed it. Funny as it was, it didn't quite match up to his other videos.

Unfortunately he had forgotten one thing. Tsuna staggered back when he was hit, tumbling in after Haru into the river.

Huh no worries he could just swim out-oh. He forgotten about the whole not knowing how to swim thing. Tsuna bobbed to the surface and lobbed the camera to Natsu who had stayed safely on the bridge. The blackmail had to be preserved!

"TSU-FISHY!" Tsuna sank back below the water. He flailed desperately to keep afloat, choking on the water. For a second he wondered if this was the end of the line, haha your second chance is gone now. Tsuna stopped, sinking like a rock, scrabbling at his shirt, his mittens were gone where was that Earth ring-

His hand wrapped around rope and suddenly Tsuna was gasping as he was yanked right out of the water to the bank. Tsuna choked, spewing out water before rolling over.

Reborn casually rewound the Leon fishing pole and the chameleon reformed. Tsuna smiled weakly, soaked to the skin. Glitter still appeared because cuteness could not be stopped. Reborn tilted his hat down, turning towards Ieyatsu who had unceremoniously dropped Haru.

"Look before you leap, Dame Ieyatsu." Reborn snapped, leaping forward and smashing a Leon mallet into Ieyatsu's head. Ieyatsu stumbled and collapsed forward.

Tsuna winced, face going bright red. Wait did Reborn literally go fishing for him?

He hated his nickname now.

Ieyatsu climbed back to his feet to find his baby brother staring at his demon tutor with a bright red face. He exploded. "Don't go corrupting my baby brother you, you-!" Tsuna cocked his head causing Haru to gush. Ieyatsu turned on her.

"You WITCH! You knocked my fishy off the bridge!" Haru turned bright red.

"It was an accident! I would never hurt a child!" She yelled. Tsuna looked up from retrieving his camera from Natsu. Cat and boy shared a long look as Tsuna wondered if the chaos was worth it.

Free entertainment always was.

Speaking of which… Tsuna smiled wickedly as he suddenly figured out the reason for Ieyatsu's bad temper. He beamed at Reborn. Unexpectedly, Tsuna started to giggle.

"You caught a fishy! How can I ever repay you?" Ieyatsu snapped around, his Tsuna radar going off. Reborn seemed inscrutable.

"Learn to make a good espresso." Tsuna nodded happily, cackling inside. Jokes on them, his Reborn had pistol whipped him into espresso making when he was sixteen. Hardest part was adjusting to the kitchen with his smaller size.

Ieyatsu shrieked, tugging at his hair, struggling to express his rage. Reborn thoughtfully whacked him again. "Mafia bosses don't struggle in conversation."

Tsuna followed Reborn like a puppy all the way home, gleefully ignoring Ieyatsu's rage.

* * *

Tsuna sneezed, sliding back in his bed miserably. He felt horrible.

Ieyatsu had already worked himself into a state of hysterics and was bawling into the blanket. "WHAT IF IT'S PNEUMONIA AND MY FISHY DIIIEEESSS!" Nana casually stepped around, removing the thermometer.

"It looks like you have a cold dear. Just stay in bed and get lots of rest." She said, smiling softly. Just as casually, Nana tugged Ieyatsu out of the room.

Tsuna resigned himself to a very long, quiet, and boring day.

He waited until the house quieted and his Intuition stopped pinging before he snuck a laptop from under his blanket. Natsu settled on his feet with a purr as Tsuna powered it on and started answering his chat.

Apparently Nervousache and Wrench were getting along splendidly. Tsuna threw in a rough diagram of a robot with a snigger.

It would be perfected before the hour was out.***

He skimmed the web, keeping an eye out for any subtle mafia dealings and eventually settled on cat videos. Tsuna sneezed and sniffled. Tsuna sneezed again as his Intuition abruptly pinged and he scrambled to pack the laptop away.

Just in time as a cow cannonballed onto him. Tsuna wheezed, curling up and knocking Lambo off. "GYAHAHA! THE GREAT LAMBO IS BACK FROM THE STORE!"

Nana poked her head with a soft smile. "Be nice Lambo. Tsuna is sick." Tsuna glared but unfortunately just came off as mildly disgruntled.

Lambo poked his head. "Sick? Tsuna can't be sick! Who will play with the great Lambo?" Tsuna sneezed and smiled wickedly.

"I'm gonna get you sick and then you can't play." He sing songed evilly. Lambo shrieked, falling backwards off the bed. Scaring children was always the fun part of his job.

"Lambo doesn't want to be sick!" Lambo struck a pose. "The great Lambo will fix you!" The cow sprinted out and Tsuna settled down for a nap.

He was woken abruptly from a rather blissful dream by something landing on his bed. Tsuna blinked blearily at the silver thing. Oh. It was Gokudera.

"Jyuudaime's brother! I will never forgive myself for letting you fall and become sick!" Tsuna blinked again before giving up. He weakly patted Gokudera on the head before settling back. He was jolted awake again as Gokudera jumped up, fire in his eyes. "I will cure you!"

"Haha this sounds like fun. I think my dad knows a few herbal remedies." Yamamoto said, leaning against the doorway.

"Shut up baseball freak! You don't deserve to sully Tsuna-sama with your pathetic medicine!" Gokudera snarled. Tsuna wondered where his camera was but couldn't muster the energy to ask.

Yamamoto started to laugh and then was shoved to the side as Ieyatsu practically sprinted in the room. "Fishy don't die! I will save you!"

"Jyuudaime will make the best medicine!" Gokudera said, puppy tail wagging.

Natsu gao'd irritably at them all and Tsuna echoed the sentiment. Seriously nap time was an important part of the day. Growing adorableness needed its cutie rest.

He could have burst with joy when the others took off downstairs and settled back into his nap.

It didn't last long.

Tsuna jerked as… Something was shoved in his face. For a second, he couldn't quite focus on the pot but then the smell hit. Tsuna gagged as he looked at the unholy mixture of who knows what. Gokudera looked ecstatic.

"It's perfectly formulated to help your body regain its strength." Oh no, Gokudera was cooking again. Tsuna had long since forbidden his own Gokudera to cook especially after the Night of the Living Toast.

It might not be poison but he was willing to bet eating that would make him throw up.

"My dad said hot water with lemon in it always helped." Yamamoto said, presenting his own contribution. Tsuna was almost tempted if Gokudera hadn't gone off again.

"You again! I thought I told you that you weren't allowed to help Tsuna-sama!"

"Aren't we all just trying to help him feel better?" Yamamoto said grinning obliviously. Tsuna groaned as he saw Gokudera's hand go to his pocket. The pot clattered to the floor, slime oozing out over the floor.

Lucking or unluckily, Ieyatsu busted in again. "Tsu! I mixed all the cold medicines together so they're double strength!" Tsuna seriously considered running away.

And being worried about his brother's level of medical knowledge.

"Lambo commands you to not be sick anymore!" Tsuna smiled as Lambo hopped on the bed. Gokudera picked the cow child up by the afro.

"You can't just tell someone not to be sick stupid cow!"

"Tol-er-ate…" Lambo burst into tears and Tsuna melted again. Ominous electricity sparked from the horns and Gokudera dropped Lambo when a spark hit his hand. Tsuna paled as he saw the purple bazooka appear.

"Guys no, please I'm fine-" Tsuna pleaded softly. Curse his tiny body and lack of Zero Point Breakthrough.

Pink smoke puffed through the room as TYL!Lambo made his appearance. "Huh? Oh this was when you were sick." Gokudera growled and launched himself at Lambo. The boy stumbled back, slamming into Ieyatsu who dropped the evil medicine. Yamamoto laughed.

"Ah they're wrestling. It looks like they're having fun." He said. Tsuna sighed as Natsu crept up the bed. He wrapped his arms around Natsu's sweatered neck, using the cat as a crutch to make his escape out the door.

He buried his face into Natsu as Bianchi headed in, carrying a dish of something purple and oozing. A thump told him at least one of the fighters was down. Good he liked his room.

Tsuna toddled down the hallway and ended up slipping into Ieyatsu's room. He jumped up, slowly climbing up into the bed and flopping out with a sigh. Seconds later, Tsuna was fast asleep.

The toddler and cat didn't even notice the hitman who slipped in, pulled the covers up, and slipped out to deal with his wayward student.

Tsuna was back to his energetic self the next morning.

Or nearly. After a frankly blissful second nap, he had to escape Nana's yucky cold syrup and Ieyatsu's second attempt at curing him.

But the next morning he was setting out, bright eyed and bushy tailed for a morning snack. It felt like it took forever to get to anywhere now because of his tiny legs. But the Gyoza buns were definitely worth it.

Tsuna sat on the curb rather than jumping up to a seat and let himself relax. Shyly, he waved at the other tiny toddler sitting at the stall who started to sweat.

He hid his smile in a Gyoza bun. Yep, these were definitely worth it.

* * *

 _Omake_

Reborn was being hunted by a vicious predator. A predator who would just not give up.

He dove out the wind and into a secret tunnel, popping out near a fire extinguisher. However the soft wheezing and footsteps told him that they had not given up. A useful skill but very irritating right now.

He couldn't even shoot the kid because Bianchi would be unhappy and she was useful.

Reluctantly Reborn allowed himself to be cornered.

"You saved me so you get a hug!" Tsuna squeaked, pouncing on the hitman. Reborn allowed himself to be hugged, giving off an air of exasperation and irritableness.

Tsuna liked hugging those who were closer to his size and made any excuse to do it.

* * *

*He had long since developed the skill of throwing back explosives.

**Tsuna was desensitized to Guardian antics by now.

***No he wasn't training them to perfect his robotic army in case cuteness domination failed. Why would anyone ever ask that?

* * *

 **Tsuna will try not to be sick ever again if that is what he has to deal with. Writing this Tsuna is kind of hard though because mentally, he's a mature (nope) adult. Physically though he's a very small child.**

 **Please review (I write faster), follow, or favorite!**


	6. Hi-yah!

**Sorry this was late! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Tsuna beamed through a mouthful of gyoza, stopping Ieyatsu in his tracks. "Iey! Are you getting breakfast too!" A cock of the head and Ieyatsu's nose starts to drip blood. Huh, maybe his brother had a medical condition. He should tell Reborn just in case it became a problem.

He shoved the last bit in his mouth, bouncing up to offer Ieyatsu his last piece. Tsuna twitched as he heard a high pitched noise. Behind him the gate slowly creaked open and he turned around.

Oh yeah there was a dog. He'd forgotten about that.

Tsuna yelped as he was yanked back into Ieyatsu's arms. "I'll protect you fishy!" Ieyatsu said, taking a step away.

Aw that was almost cute. Too bad his brother's shaking completely ruined the effect. Tsuna wheezed as Ieyatsu's arms tightened even more, crushing the air out of his lungs.

He almost cheered when I-pin ran forward, floating the dog up in the air. "Psychic kid!" Ieyatsu screeched, stumbling backwards.

Tsuna resisted the urge to roll his eyes. His older brother had a baby hitman tutor and he still found this weird? Honestly, how was his brother going to survive the mafia world? He'd have to train that out of him.

If his methods were coincidentally going to be very painful and humiliating, Tsuna had no regrets right now. Being partially choked did that for you.

I pin muttered something and fled. Tsuna groaned as he was shaken around and around. "Why did you leave this morning?!" Ieyatsu demanded.

"Got hungry and wanted to explore." Tsuna choked out.

Ieyatsu looked ready to tear his hair out.* "I don't have time to take you home!"

"Just let him go home by himself." Reborn said. Ieyatsu shrieked as he was kicked in the back. Tsuna wriggled out of his brother's arms, jumping away to avoid being crushed.

Tsuna ignored the rest of the conversation, glaring at the ground. There was his last piece of gyoza, crushed to bits.

He was going to unload a whole freaking dog shelter into his brother's room. Tsuna hopped up to put some money on the vender's counter. "Sorry about my bro causing a scene. He's a bit excitable." The vender inclined his head and Tsuna jumped off. He then left back down the sidewalk back to his house.

"Mama, I'm home!" Tsuna said as he walked in. He jumped up, pulling the door closed with a click.

Looked like Bianchi and Lambo were still in the bathrooms. Tsuna strolled past, plopping right on top of Natsu. The lion cub hissed before going back to sleep, not even going to fight it.

"Oh Tsu-Kun. You brother forgot his lunch again." Nana said from the kitchen. Tsuna fought the urge to smile.

"Don't worry, I can take it to him Mama."

* * *

"Iey!" Ieyatsu looked back as he was being yanked around like a rag doll. "You aren't supposed to beat up little kids!"

Yamamoto laughed. "Oh it's your little brother again! How you doing little guy?" He asked, crouching down. Tsuna beamed up, setting Ieyatsu's bento on the ground. He had already set up the camera anyway.

"I'm doing great! You're the baseball guy, aren't you?"

"Yup." Yamamoto said. Gokudera fumed from his spot. Tsuna coughed as the ginger smoke cloud was revealed.

That always smelled nasty. "That's a silly technique." Ieyatsu complained. Tsuna didn't even looked up until something bowled him over.

He boredly glanced down to see I-pin clinging to him, the symbols slowly changing. For a second, he contemplated suicide by tiny Asian child explosion. "They'll wipe out the school when they go off." Reborn continued, upbeat. Tsuna pouted. He thought Reborn was his friend.

Tsuna then shrieked as he was shaken back and forth for the second time that day. "I'll protect you, don't worry!" Ieyatsu yelled. Yamamoto laughed beside him and Tsuna cursed the guy's obliviousness.

Unfortunately, I-pin could get a much better grip on him than before. Searing heat flared to life above him and Tsuna groaned.

"SAVE THE SCHOOL AND MY FISHY WITH MY DYING WILL!"

Tsuna screamed as he was yanked up and I-pin was practically ripped off of. Ieyatsu took a step back before launching I-pin up into the sky.

Unfortunately Ieyatsu didn't quite have enough control to prevent himself from launching Tsuna up as well. Tsuna flailed as he was suddenly very high up and falling.

The Earth ring bow tie that was being such an annoying thing to light, flared to life. For a second, his fall slowed and then his control on gravity slipped and he nearly cursed out loud.**

So this was how he was going to die.

"I got it!" Tsuna's breath wooshed out of his lungs as he was snatched away from certain death. Yamamoto grinned down at the panicked child. "Haha. Guess baseball instincts kicked in." Thank god for baseball then.

"Tuna! I'm so sorry!" Tsuna wriggled out of Yamamoto's arms and leaped out of the way. He was not getting choked again today!

The young boy froze and his eyes narrowed. He sensed a disturbance in the air…

The Skylark was coming.

He snatched I-pin's arm and legged it. "Your lunch is over there!" Tsuna then abandoned his brother to a horrific fate.

* * *

"Broccoli monster!" Tsuna held his bowl away and went back to his food. His mother's cooking was so good. He was probably going to get fat by this rate. Daintily, he wiped off his cheeks and set his bowl down.

Without even looking, he launched himself off the chair. Gokudera made a sound not too far from a gasp as he suddenly found himself with an armful of Tuna. Tsuna silently giggled at Gokudera's half panicked and half reverent face. He curled up cutely, pretending to miss the sudden cloud of pink smoke.

"They're a girl?!" Tsuna twisted and giggled.

"Silly Ieyatsu! Didn't you know?" He shook his head in mock dismay. "This may be why Kyoko won't go out with him." Tsuna mock whispered to Gokudera.

"Any girl would be proud to go out with Jyuudaime!" Gokudera defended passionately. Ieyatsu weeped in the corner.

Tsuna relished in the screech when Ieyatsu went to bed that night. That would teach him to mess with his food next time.

* * *

For once, Tsuna wasn't filming for blackmail. He contentedly ignored the fact that he had instead attached a camera to Natsu's collar and the cat was in the corner. The young tuna instead leaned next to the doorway and enjoyed the boxing fight.

He slowly closed his eyes with a smile, completely ignoring the other club's entrance. Tsuna did react when they laid down what they wanted from the fight.

"Hey! You can just make Kyoko a prize! She's a living person, not some object to trade around!" Tsuna snapped, taking a step away from the wall. The Karate club leader (he had never bothered to learn the name) glared down at him.

"So what shrimp?" Tsuna saw red. Nobody called him a shrimp!

"Extreme!" Ryohei flung himself at the karate club. Tsuna side stepped out of the way before someone grabbed him off the floor by the arm.

"Hey!" He snapped a kick into the member's face before head butting him in the nose. The karate guy screeched especially when suddenly a cat suddenly landed on his back. The grip released and Tsuna wriggled out, falling to the ground with a graceless thump. He gleefully ignored the thump behind him. Tsuna skipped away, cheerfully projecting a cloud of flowers even when leaving an unconscious body behind.

Natsu padded up and he removed the camera, slipping it into his hoodie pocket. He rubbed the lion's head affectionately. "You have done well for me minion." Tsuna muttered, adding a small cackle for affect.

"Thanks for the help Sawada! I didn't know you or your little brother was so EXTREME!" Tsuna glomped Ryohei's leg.

"I didn't know Kyoko had an extreme big brother!" He chirped.

Ieyatsu muttered something about the fishy being his little brother and how people should stop corrupting him. Tsuna blissfully tuned out his mutters as Kyoko scooped up Natsu to cuddle the cat.

Hey he got an EXTREME big brother to watch out for him now, Tsuna wasn't complaining.

* * *

Another day, another time to hide under Ieyatsu's bed and pretend he was invisible. Tsuna cheerfully curled up in a dark corner and pretended he didn't hear the thumping noises and hissed orders.

Mama really was oblivious.

Tsuna was patting his fluffy hair down, cutely pouting when it didn't stay down, when he heard Ieyatsu's shriek. "-zero talent."

Oh were they playing the insult Ieyatsu game? He loved that game.***

"And he poses in front of his mirror and flexes a lot." Tsuna threw in, poking his head out. Ieyatsu spluttered.

"Fishy, don't tell them that!" Tsuna rolled out, hopping to his feet. Like he cared, he had enough blackmail on Ieyatsu. That was actually one of the nicer things. Ieyatsu slumped with an air of gloom.

"Who's the little guy?" Dino asked. Reborn whacked him in the back of the head.

"Idiot Dino. That's Tsuna, Dame Ieyatsu's younger brother. Do your research." Tsuna waved cheerfully.

"Hi Reborn!" He chirped. Ieyatsu growled (it was kind of a pitiful growl though by Tsuna's standards. He had seen angry Xanxus).

Dino shook it off with a rueful smile, turning his attention back to Ieyatsu. "If you don't train hard to be a boss, I'll bite." He punctuated it with a snap from Enzo. Just in time for Natsu to practically teleport in and make a leap for the turtle. Dino quickly drew back before the cat could chomp down and Tsuna dove forward to wrestle the cat away.

He looked up just in time to see Dino launch himself out of the window to catch the grenades. "Eh. Reborn could have done it better." Tsuna said, flippantly. Ieyatsu's mutters began to turn murderous. Reborn just inclined his head.

Honestly Tsuna would laugh if Ieyatsu tried to kill Reborn. It'd be like a puppy attacking a dire wolf.

Meh. He ended up dragging Natsu back to his room and locking them inside. He'd rather not have to deal with his flame animal attacking giant Enzo later. Granted, Tsuna did slip out again to take a picture of Ieyatsu with Romario's face.

* * *

Ieyatsu screamed as he was dragged into the car and it took off. He shrieked again when he saw Tsuna cheerfully sitting in one of the seats.

"Hi Iey! Dino-nii decided to bring me along." Tsuna was completely at home with the kidnapping attempt. It's not like he had never been kidnapped before. (Granted it sent his Guardians into a fit of panic that ended with a town being leveled. He was more concerned with the paperwork afterward).

Ieyatsu saw red. "How dare you corrupt my little brother, you you REPTILE!" He then lunge forward and attempted to beat up Dino. Tsuna raised an eyebrow and leaned out of the way. Really? Reptile? That was his brother's best insult?

He was disappointed.

Tsuna curled up for a nap and settled into sleep, dreaming of the future ahead. The Vongola ring around his throat seemed to beat in sync with the Earth ring and his own heartbeat.

* * *

*Tsuna had that habit for a short while. He ended up breaking it after one of Mukuro's and Hibari's fights nearly had him ripping most of it out.

**Obviously he didn't as hearing a four year old curse a blue streak in Italian would probably freak people out.

***It was a game he regularly enjoyed. Reborn had thoroughly corrupted him.

* * *

 **The real reason Dino never knew about Tsuna? The little guy has a tendency to evade most watchers.**

 **I'm glad you guys enjoyed it thus far! Just to clear up confusion, Tsuna can't real use his flames. He hasn't been Sealed, but he also doesn't quite have his Dying Will figured out yet. He's also dealing with a whole new flame type and doesn't have much experience with Earth flames.**

 **Please Review/Favorite/or Follow! I write faster!**


	7. Skullitis and Appreciation Day

**Sorry this chapter was a bit late. I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Dino sprawled in his seat, a soft smile on his face as he mulled the day over. "Will you support him?" Reborn asked, already back in the car. Ieyatsu had declined the car, having been dragged along the sidewalk by Gokudera.

He had to admit it had gone rather well. Ieyatsu was a civilian but Reborn was good at his job. The hitman had whipped him into shape so while he pitied Ieyatsu, the boy was being taught by the best. His family members had broken into a Yakuza base just because they had though he was kidnapped.

And honestly, Ieyatsu's little brother was the cutest thing he had ever seen. Tsuna had fallen asleep during the car trip and was now curled up in his lap.

Dino quietly petted the fluffy hair, marveling at its softness. Where was he? "I'll support them. They could go far." He murmured. He motioned and the car pulled away from the curb.

He still had to drop off the youngest at home and then it was back to Italy for him. Dino groaned at the thought of how much paperwork he would have.

Reborn didn't answer, choosing to stare out the window silently. Probably plotting murder, Dino thought ruefully. He pitied Ieyatsu. Just not enough to intervene for his younger brother by sadistic tutoring.

* * *

Tsuna had practically teleported downstairs the next morning to hear the news. "Skullitis is fatal. An embarrassing disease that will tell your most humiliating secrets even after death. It's contracted by getting shot by dying will bullets." Reborn said, calmly reloading his Leon gun.

Instantly, Ieyatsu had Tsuna in his arms. "But what about Tsu! Where will he be without his older brother?" Tsuna felt his heart warm slightly. It was nice having an older brother to care about him.

Plus the buffer between him and the Vongola position was extremely important too.

"He once lied to his younger brother that there was no cake so his brother would stop eating it!" A skull said.

Tsuna's heart hardened again as all of his sympathy went out the window. Nobody messed with his precious cake. "I'm thinking an open casket funeral." Tsuna muttered, his thoughts on his poor cake. He wriggled out of Ieyatsu's arms and dropped to the floor.

"Good luck, cake hating monster." Tsuna growled, stomping back up the stairs. Nana caught him at the top, happy to see her youngest.

"Tsu-chan! Would you like to play dress up?" Tsuna felt his heart drop. He hated disappointing Nana but dress up was just so embarrassing. Especially because Reborn was in the house. He had a feeling that Reborn would be using this till the day Death somehow succeeded in taking the hitman.*

Nana smiled and he just melted. "Alright." He mumbled and she looked so excited. Was this what it was like for people around him? He really was adorable. Nana swooped him up and headed for her room, humming cheerfully.

Tsuna was put on the bed and he watched, horror growing as she busied herself looking in the closet. "Found it!" Nana said. She set down a cute little green dress and ducked out of the room. Tsuna sighed before changing into the outfit. Luckily it disguised his yarn necklace and the bow tie didn't look out of place. He carefully folded his miniature orange hoodie and the rest of his clothes.

Natsu poked his head in and gao'd. Tsuna glared and the lion hurriedly retreated. The young boy looked down and pouted.

Gah, curse his girlish cuteness. He had to admit though, he could really pull the outfit off.

"My Tsu-chan looks so cute. Maybe even cuter than his father!" Nana said, coming back in. She clapped her hands happily. Tsuna smiled up at his mother and Nana ruffled his hair. There was a clicking noise and Tsuna froze. Nana cheerfully typed away. "I'm going to send this to everybody!"

"But Mama!" Tsuna whined, his face going red. Nana giggled. She had no mercy.

"I have to go run some groceries. Would you like to come with?" Nana said, putting away her phone.

"Sorry Mama. I'm gonna play with Natsu." Tsuna said smiling cheerfully. Nana admired her handiwork for a few seconds more before leaving. The lion padded in the room.

"Play nice Tsu!"

Tsuna kept smiling even as he slowly turned to fix Natsu with an ominous look. "I think it would be nice to coordinate." He purred. Natsu froze before leaping backwards even as Tsuna lunged at him.

It took all of five minutes to chase the lion down and wrestle him into submission. Tsuna wiped his brow and settled back.

"All done!" He chirped. Natsu whined, pawing at his new green sweater. It wasn't even that bad, Natsu was being a drama queen. Tsuna put his hands on his hips. "Hey you don't have to go out in this dress." He said.

He hopped up and grabbed his camera off the counter. Natsu meowed before reluctantly following him out the door.

It took forever to track his brother down. Especially because Natsu kept attempting to hide in a trash can when someone who remotely looked like Hibari passed by. Tsuna sighed as he dragged his cowardly pet away from another person.

Honestly, how his pet had ever befriended Bester was a mystery.

Tsuna got there just in time to hear the dinging sound of his nightmares. The Pinzu Timer countdown. He shrieked as he was suddenly launched back in the air.

Tsuna twisted around in midair and curled into a ball. He grunted as he slammed into something vaguely soft. He blinked the blurriness out, shaking his head and pushing himself up. Oh. He wasn't dead yet.**

So what did he land on?

His Intuition pinged and he was struck by a very strong feeling of dread. Tsuna looked down at the face of one demon prefect. Frozen with dread, he watched as Hibari's eyes slowly started to open.

 _Oh dear_ _god, the theme music was back._

He was probably going to die now.

Tsuna leaped away with a strangled squeak, racking his mind for the rules of dealing with skylarks. Fortunately they culminated down to the one thing he had done all of his life. Run like hell.

He hit a dead sprint a few seconds later. Kiddie body don't fail him now! He kinda wished he could pull off his jutsu again but Tsuna had no clue where Natsu had gone.

He wheezed as he heard fast footsteps behind. A mafia boss must know when to make sacrifices. Tsuna detoured, heading to where he knew a certain someone would be.

Tsuna sped up and jumped, clinging to Ieyatsu's shoulder. "Fishy? But you look like a girl." Ieyatsu muttered. Tsuna narrowed his eyes and felt his compassion die. He couldn't look like a girl that much!

"Hey Iey! You getting me a sister yet?" Huh. He could see Shamal there and it looked like Ieyatsu was cured. His buffer wasn't dead! That was always nice to know. "Becau- I gotta run!" Tsuna leaped forward, using Ieyatsu's shoulder like a spring board. Ieyatsu stumbled slightly and Tsuna zoomed away back to the safety of his home. He ignored the screams of bloody murder which signaled that the skylark had accepted their sacrifice.

Not his problem now.

Tsuna slipped in quietly, waving to Nana before heading up the stairs to change.

"GYAHAHA! Tsuna looks like a girl!" Lambo yelled. Tsuna mentally face palmed. He would be hearing about this for a long time. Natsu gao'd from a cushion. Looks like his box animal had headed straight back. Tsuna sighed deeply.

He could kind of empathize with Xanxus becoming an alcoholic and Byakuran attempting to destroy the world now. Tsuna had just popped stress medication like Tic Tacs. It was a sad day when he realized how comparatively normal that was to the other bosses' quirks. He jerked his mind back to the now.

Tsuna flounced away and changed into his other clothes. He even folded up the green dress and left it by the closet. He winced as the commotion began to filter upstairs, liberally seasoned with obnoxious laughing and swearing. Tsuna smiled contentedly. He missed this. And still missed the family that would be.

Humming quietly, he headed downstairs.

* * *

Tsuna was feeling lazy today. Maybe it was the extremely early wake up call or it might have been that nothing really interesting happened. Or would happen. Tenses were so confusing. Though there was the exploding lunch box but that was meh. The young boy flopped back onto his bed.

Well there was that one thing he wanted to do. Tsuna rolled back off the bed and tiptoed out of his room.

He padded down the hall and slowly pushed open the door to Ieyatsu's room. Tsuna winced at the mess, distant memories of timed cleanings coming to mind. He shuddered before stepping in.

Tsuna pretended not to notice Reborn eyeing him from the bed and instead poked around under the bed. Tsuna smiled as his search produced that mafia guide book. He tucked it under his arm and headed out of the room, nudging the door shut behind him. Tsuna didn't relax until he was back in the safety of his room, cocooned in blankets with a lazily purring Natsu pressed against his back.

He had never read this book. Probably would have helped with Reborn's sink or swim approach but he had never found the time between all of the chaotic events. But it was supposed to be informative and he really needed that at this moment.

There had to be some way to even the field for the Varia trials. (He shoved the memory of Lambo on the verge of death back into its dark corner. That wasn't a fair fight, that was a horrible beat down against a child).***

Tsuna cracked the book open and started to read.

Tsuna groaned as he finally flopped back hours later. He had a few ideas planned out but nothing concrete. Unfortunately the book was devoted to explaining alliances and filled with warnings. Which wasn't what he needed right now.

He'd have to talk to Reborn for more.

Tsuna was snapped out his funk by a door slamming downstairs. No one was supposed to be home yet. He wriggled out of the blankets and poked his head out of his room.

Oh. _Oh._

I-pin was sniffling on the top step. He had forgotten how hard it was on her sometimes. Tsuna slipped out and sat down next to her.

Tsuna listened to her babble incoherent Chinese for a second before sighing. Lambo had gone a bit too far today. He bounced up and headed into his room to grab a thin blanket, dragging it back out to where she was sitting.

He sat down, wrapping the blanket around her and tucking it in. Natsu did his duty by pressing into her side, purring enthusiastically. "You wanna talk?" Tsuna asked.

I-pin mumbled something in Chinese. "I-pin messed up. Broccoli monster mean." She stumbled on the Japanese. Tsuna patted her on the head.

"I don't think Lambo means it. As for the other thing… Making mistakes is just part of life I guess. If you focus too much, you get worse." Tsuna said. I-pin mumbled something in Chinese. "What matters is what you do to fix it."

I-pin suddenly bounced to life. "Tell Master!" She said. Tsuna nodded brightly.

"That could help… Wait, who is Master?" I-pin wasn't listening. She headed straight down the steps and out the door. Tsuna shrugged before gathering up the blanket. At least she was happier now.

Now to go see if he missed something in that mafia book.

* * *

This was a meh idea at best. But his Intuition was pinging so Tsuna had forced himself out of the house to the meeting place.

Weren't they trying to figure out the babysitter thing or something? He'd have to disqualify himself. He loved the cow but his shenanigans could be severely crippled if he had to babysit.

Plus a four year old shouldn't babysit a five year old but he was pretty sure Reborn didn't care.

Abruptly his Intuition pinged a warning. Tsuna ducked in time for a baseball to shoot over his head. He dropped to the ground with a shriek.

Instantly Ieyatsu was moving to pick him up. "Tsu, are you alright!" Ieyatsu cried. Tsuna jumped to his feet, hopping back to avoid Ieyatsu's lunge. Tsuna beamed, not noticing how blood began to drip from Ieyatsu's nose.

"Baseball idiot! You nearly hurt Tsuna-sama!" Gokudera snarled. Yamamoto laughed, rubbing the back of his head.

"Sorry. I get really into it." Yamamoto said. Gokudera growled, hand beginning to go for his pockets. Tsuna giggled.

"I just came to see if there was any more of those cool mafia books." Tsuna said. Ieyatsu froze in horror and shock.

"Why?" Reborn asked, eyes narrowed. Tsuna's smile widened.

"Well if Ieyatsu is going to be some sort of mafia guy then that means I get to be that super cool younger brother who knows a ton! Like in anime and video games!" Tsuna said gesturing wildly. Ieyatsu looked like he was about to burst into tears especially when Reborn smirked.

"Well Dame-Ieyatsu, if your brother knows more, he may have to take up the mantle instead." Reborn said. Haha. No. Xanxus would take that mantle before he went through that again.

The paperwork still haunted his nightmares.

Ieyatsu let out a strangled cry. "Not my fishy! He will remain innocent and adorable! I will make sure of that!" Ieyatsu yelled. Tsuna blinked at the scene before looking at Bianchi.

"Your costume is cute!" Tsuna happily skipped away in a cloud of flowers, ignoring with ease the brawl breaking out between Yamamoto and Gokudera and Ieyatsu desperately trying to calm down Lambo. His work here was done.

He pretended not to notice later how a few more mafia guides showed up on his bedroom floor along with a Italian primer. Reborn had always liked to cover his bases.

In return, Tsuna helped brew some espresso. Hopefully these would be more of a help in his quest.

(Tsuna later groaned as his forehead smacked into the cover. Of course the accursed hitman gave him books filled with so much legalese, it was practically impossible to read. Reborn still had his torture approach after all).

* * *

A few days later found Tsuna at a lovely little cake shop. He hummed with joy as he took a bite of the heavenly cake. It was just him now because Natsu was still petrified at the thought of meeting Hibari. The lion had stayed home but Tsuna had wanted his cake bad enough to venture out.

He blinked as he heard the all too familiar sounds. Tsuna looked up to see Haru dragging Ieyatsu into the shop. "Oh it's the cute little kid!" Haru said. Tsuna accepted her enthusiastic hug before looking over at Ieyatsu.

"What are you doing here big brother?" Tsuna chirped, giving the beseeching smile, form 18. Ieyatsu spluttered as Tsuna took another bite of cake.

"Haru brought me here! What are you doing here!" Tsuna blinked at the question.

"It's Tsuna Appreciation day!" If he had his way, it would be every day but sadly he was vetoed. "Isn't that Kyoko?" Tsuna asked, sneaking another bite of cake.

Ieyatsu flipped around. "Kyoko! What are you doing here?" Kyoko smiled. Honestly he had to admire her form. The cuteness was strong, but subtle enough that it didn't get annoying. Very well chosen form as well.

"Ah? It's my appreciation day. I like to treat myself to cake." Haru squealed happily.

"You have an appreciation day too? Haru has one as well!" She cheered. Ieyatsu went bright red.

"So they are having it on the same day?!" Ieyatsu said frantically. Tsuna rolled his eyes. He jerked as Reborn just seemed to show up. It was the hitman could turn invisible or something!

If he didn't know better, he would have assumed Mist flames. But he couldn't feel any of those.****

"Why don't you come to Dame-Ieyatsu's house then?" Ieyatsu spluttered, waving his hands but Haru beat him to it.

"That could be fun!" She said. Kyoko nodded and Ieyatsu's arms fell. Tsuna finished off the last bite of cake before looking up and cocking his head to the side, unintentionally creating a flowery background complete with bunnies.

"How could I be invited there? I live there too!" Ieyatsu didn't look like he would be forming coherent sentences any time soon. "That reminds me! I picked something up for Reborn!" Tsuna carefully pulled a paper box out and happily presented it. "It's a coffee brownie and the lady said it was super good!"

Reborn took the box and tucked it away. "Thank you." The hitman said. Tsuna cooed happily at Leon, ignoring how Ieyatsu looked furious. Tsuna hopped off his chair and headed out the store.

"Our house is just a bit of a walk!"

* * *

Getting shot with a Dying Will bullet again felt kind of weird.

He hadn't even touched the Gyoza. Reborn was just being rude at this point. But he did regret something. Something he held near and dear to his heart. Something incredibly important.

Tsuna regretted… Not finishing his slice of cake.

* * *

Reborn watched as Dame Ieyatsu's younger brother just sat there, reddish orange flame prominent, and continued polishing off the cake. Ieyatsu shrieked nearby and his fingers itched for a mallet to shut his dame student up.

He catalogued the rusty reddish orange flame for later consideration and turned back to his work.

* * *

*He personally had his doubts. The Arcobaleno thing alone was supposed to be a done deal and yet Reborn got it fixed (with help) and didn't die.

**This was a surprisingly common thought for him.

***To this day, Tsuna still loathed Levi. It was one thing to be loyal, another to viciously beat up a five year old who could barely put up a fight once the bazooka ran out.

****Currently reason 291 for Reborn secretly being a ninja.

* * *

 **This one finally covered a bit more ground! I'm probably going to start skipping some filler episodes after now.**

 **Please Review/Favorite/Follow! It makes my heart happy and I write faster! I hope you enjoy!**


	8. Mountain of Death and Ranking

Tsuna's face scrunched up as something wet landed on his face. He shifted in his sleep.

And then snapped awake because he couldn't move.

"HIEEEEE!" Tsuna shrieked, ignoring the fallback to his dame days. Ropes had been carefully tied to dangle him over a fast flowing river. He shivered, grateful that the madness of yesterday caused him to go to bed in normal clothes. He wriggled before freezing when his Intuition pinged.

Hopefully he wasn't kidnapped again, the blood was a pain to clean up last time.

Tsuna huffed, going limp again. Most kidnappers didn't tie up their victims over rivers though. The only question was who would? He had a good feeling he already knew that answer.

"FISHY!" Tsuna winced as he came out of his thoughts, looking down and over to the riverbank. Ieyatsu had just stepped out from the tree line and froze up at the sight of his beloved younger brother in trouble. Gokudera rushed past him.

"Jyuudaime's brother! Are you okay!" Gokudera yelled. Oh yes he was great, Tsuna thought irritably, this was better than a spa day.

"Haha, he looks like a piñata!" Yamamoto said. Dino emerged behind the baseball player and winced.

"A real manly boss would be able to rescue their younger brother." Reborn chirped from a tree branch. Tsuna fixed him with a stink eye as Reborn pulled out a watch. "You should hurry. That rope won't last forever." Tsuna went pale. Was this some sort of tactic to deal with possible heirs?

"We'll save you! Don't panic!" Ieyatsu yelled. Tsuna shrieked as the rope started to fray and he slowly dropped closer to the river below.

He was going to pour out all of Reborn's espresso if he survived this!

Or not because Reborn probably would shoot him.

"I've got this!" Dino said, pulling out his whip. For a moment, Tsuna felt sweet relief flood his body.

Quickly replaced by horror when he realized Dino's subordinates weren't around. The horror grew exponentially as he watched Dino flicked his whip around and squirmed when a strike nearly hit his cheek.

His Intuition pinged just before he heard the rope snap. Tsuna screamed as he hurtled toward the river below. This was how he was going to die (again). Drowned in a river.

Tsuna was going to haunt Dino for the rest of his life.

"Tsuna!" Ieyatsu's yell drowned out all the others. Except for a hissing noise… What was that annoying noise? And why was it so familiar?

Tsuna whimpered as the dynamite went off and he was thrown to the side. He hit the riverbank with a grunt as the air went out of his lungs. Tsuna just laid there for a minute, contemplating whether going back to sleep was an option.

Abruptly, he was yanked up from the ground and spun around. "Tsu-chan! I thought I had lost you!" Ieyatsu said. Yamamoto laughed.

"That was some good time with your fireworks, Hayato." He said. Gokudera glared.

"They aren't fireworks, Baseball Idiot! And I couldn't let Jyuudaime's brother get hurt." Gokudera glared.

"You saved him but Ieyatsu failed." Reborn said, looking disturbingly gleeful about the prospect. Leon shifted into a mallet. Ieyatsu spun around and Tsuna squeaked at the sudden motion.

"Eh?"

"A boss shouldn't make their Guardians do all the work. So you will have to do remedial training." Reborn said. Tsuna shivered as he realized what day it was. Huh. He had been hoping to never come back to this mountain. Tsuna idly slammed his foot into Ieyatsu's chest, forcing his older brother to drop him. He landed on his feet, throwing himself to the side to dodge Ieyatsu's next lunge.

"Dino! I missed you!" Yeah that New Year Celebration was interesting. Too bad he fell asleep under a delightfully warm kotatsu. He jumped up and Dino fumbled but safely caught him. Tsuna cooed as he snuggled into Dino's deliciously soft coat.

"UNHAND MY BROTHER REPTILE!" Tsuna rolled his eyes, settling down in Dino's arm. Reborn cheerfully used it as an excuse to whack Ieyatsu.

"Don't disrespect an older boss, Dame Ieyatsu."

"I'll save him for you Jyuudaime!" Gokudera yelled.

"Everyone should just calm down."

Tsuna closed his eyes. Totally not his problem.

* * *

It didn't mean he didn't wake up with a snap when he heard Ieyatsu's screams from the cold waterfall, oh no. "Just watching him makes me cold." Gokudera said, shivering slightly.

"Why didn't you wear warmer clothes?" Tsuna asked curiously. It was a tad chilly. He kind of wished Natsu was here to be his space heater.

A fire seemed to light in Gokudera's eyes. "Boss needed me! I'll be naked if that's what it took to help boss!" Gokudera cried. Yamamoto laughed.

"Always a jokester Hayato." Tsuna's smile got a little unsettles. Gokudera would and had once done that for him in a panic after being told his beloved boss was kidnapped. It was awkward to say the least. Did all Guardian circles have an obsessed one?

Now he was glad Gokudera, Levi, and Genkishi hadn't made that fan club like they were discussing.

Tsuna burst out in peals of laughter as the large duck smashed down on Ieyatsu. "Silly Ieyatsu." He giggled.

"I don't want to do this anymore! I'll just leave!" Tsuna winced at those words. He had actually attempted that once. He made it about halfway before tripping into a nest of spiders that spit venom. He was in the hospital for weeks after that and Reborn dragged him back for punishment training.

"Your next task is to survive." Reborn said, casually tossing Enzo in the water. Tsuna's eyes widened as the turtle grew and grew.

How was this training again? Ah yes, fight turtle Godzilla. Tsuna squeaked as he was picked up like a football and Ieyatsu sprinted away. "Don't worry, Tsuna, Big brother has you!" That would a lot more reassuring if his brother didn't immediately stumble on air.

"Over the bridge!" Tsuna screeched as for the second time that day, he was in free fall. Ieyatsu flailed and he was almost violently thrown away from the older boy.

 _I nearly died a lot_ , Tsuna thought numbly.

He also regretted a lot. Tsuna curled into a ball, hand closing over the Earth ring. He reached deep inside and for a few seconds his eyes seemed to glow rusty red. His fall seemed to slow… Then the fire slipped out of reach and Tsuna grunt as he smacked into a tree branch before falling to the ground with a thump. He laid there for a second.

This was going to hurt in the morning.

Tsuna hissed as he unfurled and wobbly stood up. Definitely going to have bruises tomorrow. He stumbled through the undergrowth to where his brother was.

At least Ieyatsu had already woken up. "I don't have any bars." Gokudera said, waving his phone around.

"My satellite phone will work! Uh… Did it always look like this?" Dino said sheepishly. Tsuna eyed the two separate phone halves and sighed.

"Ahhhhh!" Reborn swung in. Tsuna clapped his hands happily.

"Your costume is adorable!" Tsuna said and Ieyatsu snarled. Reborn casually threw a rock at his dame student.

"You failed. If it wasn't for Enzo falling over… Good luck getting off the mountain. We left all the food up there too." Reborn said. The hitman disappeared into the forest, ignoring Ieyatsu's shriek of rage.

Tsuna cheerfully bounced along after them as they set off on an undoubtedly epic adventure.

"I nearly got eaten! Multiple times!" Ieyatsu shrieked. Tsuna rolled his eyes at his over dramatic brother.

"Only halfway." He said. That didn't stop him from lighting up when Bianchi emerged from the cave, easily carrying Gokudera along. "Bianchi! I missed you!" Bianchi set Gokudera down and ruffled the younger boy's hair.

"This mountain seems like fun. I came for ingredients." Bianchi said.

"You've been gone for days! What have you been eating?" Dino asked. Bianchi held up a skewer.

"Poisonous mushrooms. Want some?" Bianchi said. Ieyatsu cringed back away from the skewer. Tsuna considered it. It's not like Reborn hadn't drilled poisons into his head.

"I'll pass. Kyoko, Haru, what are you guys doing here?" He asked. Tsuna beamed at the girls.

"I heard of a cake shop on a mountain and invited Kyoko along. Then we decided to take the kids but we got lost and Lambo tried leading but it didn't help. We got here this afternoon." Kyoko said.

"Stupid Lambo! If you don't know the way, don't lead!" Ieyatsu yelled. Lambo started to cry and Tsuna spitefully kicked Ieyatsu in the shin. Now that was just mean.

"Wait, why wasn't I invited to this cake shop?" Tsuna said, pouting adorably. Cake was amazing.

"Haru and I didn't see you this morning." Kyoko said. Tsuna twitched at the theme music coming back. Oh yeah, he had been dangling over a river. He forgot about that.*

But still. He ignored the others as he gathered wood and had to fight the urge to slam in his head into a tree. Oh however shall we light this fire, Ieyatsu it's not you set yourself on fire regularly now. Or how Gokudera instantly lights his dynamite without a lighter. Tsuna sat down, not offering help on their conundrum.

Forest fires build character. Or at least Reborn says they do.

Tsun watched as the dynamite goes off course and the fire quickly spread. "Evacuate into the cave!" Dino yelled. Said cave was promptly turned into rubble. Tsuna giggled.

"Lambo throw more grenades. Those totally help with forest fires." Tsuna said. The cow boy screeched louder, only eclipsed by Ieyatsu's horrified screaming.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tsuna saw movement. His head automatically jerked to the side to watch Reborn fire the Leon gun. Instinctively he traced the path, ready to jerk out of the way if necessary.

Ieyatsu screeches, snatching the Leon dousers out of the air and pacing around the clearing. Tsuna face palmed, retreating behind a confused Haru. And just in time because Ieyatsu slams his fist down on the ground and water exploded up, knocking Ieyatsu backwards.

Tsuna shook his head. Now he can see why Reborn was so sadistic. Some of the stuff seemed better fit for anime than real life.

Now to warn them or not? Tsuna glimpsed a growing green shape through the trees and started running. They could find out about Enzo on their own. Tsuna wheezed, stumbling as a particularly shrill scream went off. Looked like they just found out.

* * *

Reborn was very slightly irritated.

As part of his contract, he also had to feel out Tsunayoshi Sawada as a possible heir as well. Nono was set on the older brother but it never hurt to have a back up. Especially in their world.

It looked simple on the surface. Tsunayoshi seemed intelligent and had a gleeful sadistic streak when it came to his brother. Plus he was never Sealed.

But his flames stumped Reborn and the hitman hated that.

There had been that flash when I-pin first arrived. Tsuna had slowed his fall for a moment. And the Dying Will bullet had produced reddish-orange flames. It was Sky but a variant somehow. Not Wrath flames, the coloring wasn't right and neither was the younger's temperament.

Reborn had watched the cliff fall with a more analytical eye. It happened again but failed quickly. But it was there.

So he was dealing with a Dame student and the other had a Sky variant he wasn't sure about.

Well, Reborn thought, he was always one for a challenge. So he called up the Vongola Archive and asked them to send any material on any different flames or Sky variants. He would figure it out and then use it to train the boy into the ground. A sadistic smirk slipped across his face.

Far away, a Tuna sneezed as they left an excitable dog in their brother's hospital room.

* * *

Tsuna hummed, adjusting the cute dog ears headband as they walked down the road. He completely ignored the suited men sprinting around instead turning into a gated yard. The chihuahua yipped, running forward for an ear rub. "Hi boy! Ready to visit my brother?" Tsuna said, smiling mischievously. "Oh?"

There was someone hiding in the doghouse. Tsuna walked forward, crouching down. "Why are you hiding?" Tsuna whispered. He nearly started to smile when it all clicked. Ranking Fuuta. The next member of his little family.

"You're Ieyatsu's brother?" Fuuta whispered. Tsuna nodded enthusiastically, nearly knocking his headband off.

"Yep! Do you need to see him?" Tsuna said. Fuuta lit up, nodding happily.

"Yes, please!" The other boy crawled out. "I'm Fuuta."

"I'm Tsuna! Come on, I know a great way to get in with nobody noticing." Tsuna said. Technically he rarely used this route because it took a lot of climbing which was really annoying when he was tiny. But Fuuta was in trouble and this route took them around back, away from any mafioso.

Tsuna let Fuuta into Ieyatsu's room before leaving to clean up. Tree sap got everywhere when you had to crawl through bushes. Almost as an afterthought, he slipped into his recently completed ninja costume. Natsu gao'd from the bed before settling in to sleep. Tsuna stuck his tongue out at the lazy lion.

He finally arrived in the middle of Reborn's little animals speech. Tsuna had to admire Fuuta's form, the wide eyes and sparkles gave off a very cute look. Tsuna scoffed. He could do better.

"Fine. You can stay." Ieyatsu said. Tsuna giggled at Ieyatsu's reluctance, rolling sneakily across the floor to the bed.

"Why not get ranked?" Reborn said. Fuuta smiled softly.

"Well if it's for Iey-nii than I don't mind." Tsuna snapped a photo. Fuuta was definitely high in the cuteness rankings.

"Hello!" Haru said, walking in. Ieyatsu flailed, spinning around swiftly to gape at the girl.

"Haru! Stop inviting yourself in my house!" Ieyatsu yelled. Haru put her hands on her hips.

"Nana asked for help taking the laundry inside before it rained. Wait is this your secret younger brother!" Haru said, pointing towards Fuuta.

"Of course not!"

"I have another big brother!" Tsuna said happily. Ieyatsu jerked around.

"I would love to be your younger brother!" Fuuta said, eyes shining.

"No! He is not my younger brother!" Ieyatsu said, waving his arms around.

"Is this some kind of fortune telling thing? Ooh, rank my top three charm points!" Haru said. Ieyatsu face faulted into the table.

Tsuna reined in the eye twitch as he began to float in midair. "Ah! Tsuna!" Ieyatsu said. Fuuta stared into the distance.

"Ranking Star can you hear me?" Tsuna blinked in confusion as the Earth ring warmed. Whatever Fuuta was doing, it felt weird. Sort of like Guardian weird, was that even a thing?

Tsuna snapped back in as Lambo screeched, gravity quickly failing him. Shrugging, Tsuna bounced off the wall, flipping through the air. "Tsuna is ranked 27 out of 1000 for 'Girlier than a Girl'" Fuuta said. Tsuna sulked in midair, twisting to dodge Bianchi.

He only wore dresses once a week now! And it wasn't his fault that the Earth ring bow tie also went well in his hair as a bow!

Though… Tsuna flipped his camera to video just in time to catch Gokudera's perfect job as a nanny. Blackmail was blackmail after all. "Number one for who Ieyatsu loves most is Natsu." Ieyatsu stumbled back, looking stricken.

"Ieyatsu how could you! I thought you love me!" Tsuna said, allowing tears to well up in his eyes. Ieyatsu waved his hands.

"Don't listen to him! It's not true!" He said frantically. Tsuna floated over to Reborn, dramatically sobbing.

"Iey doesn't love meeeee." He whined pitifully. Reborn steadfastly patted his shoulder with a deadpan look.

"Number one for who Tsuna loves is Leon." Tsuna acknowledged it with a shrug. Leon was a pretty awesome chameleon.

"That was unexpected." Bianchi remarked.

Haru sobbed by the window. "Haru's heart is crying just like the rain outside." She said. Fuuta's eyes faded back and he fell onto the bed. Tsuna hit the bed with a thump as well as gravity suddenly returned.

"I hate rain. I always get so weak during it. My rankings become useless." Fuuta said. Tsuna patted Fuuta's head.

"It's theorized that rain interferes with Fuuta's connection to the Ranking Star." Reborn said.

"So I'm not in love with Natsu!" Ieyatsu cheered. Tsuna huffed. At least he got it on video but he wanted more embarrassing stuff! And a chance to take a look at Fuuta. How did he fit that giant book in his jacket? Earth flames again? He barely noticed Bianchi walking out.

"Guys, there are a lot of umbrellas outside." Everyone rushed to the window.

"It's the Todd famiglia. They must be after Ranking Fuuta. Tsuna ninja'd closer before scowling darkly.

"Bianchi! Is she going to fight them?" Ieyatsu said. With a single glare, the men parted and Bianchi walked away.

"Haha, guess not." Yamamoto remarked. Looked like that was his cue. Tsuna leaped off the bed and headed out the room. With a hop, skip, and a jump, he was clambering out of a window overlooking the backyard. He squeaked as an explosion rocked the house before jumping to the fence wall.

But super cool like because he was a ninja.

Just on time, Ieyatsu darted out, carrying Fuuta. Tsuna waited patiently until the mafiosos showed up.

It was like a game of leapfrog. One of the really horrible ones that Reborn made him play with live explosives. Tsuna bounced around, before sprinting along a fence wall. He made it to the park with time to spare, settling on top of the swings.

"Enzo is ranked 55th for most ambitious. He'll definitely double cross the others and take the Ranking book for himself." Tsuna smiled, snapping a picture.

"What!" The boss snarled, socking Enzo. Fuuta hurriedly pulled out his book.

"Fuuta now is your chance! Don't start writing now!" Ieyatsu yelled.

"But I'll forget!" Fuuta protested. Tsuna stood, calculating angles, trajectory, all the stupid stuff Spanner hammered into his head.**

"It's too late. Now why don't you just hand over the kid." The Todd boss growled. And then the Dying Will bullet hit Ieyatsu.

"Ieyatsu-nii!" Fuuta cried. Tsuna jumped, cannon balling into the weird mohawk guy. The man cursed and stumbled. Tsuna grinned wickedly, clinging on stubbornly. He ignored Ieyatsu's scream to smack the dude in the ear, causing a particularly rude slur to skip out.

"Momma said swears make angels cry." Tsuna said, completely deadpan.*** He leaped backwards, barely avoiding getting crushed when the man fell. Tsuna instead trotted up to Fuuta.

"Are you alright?" He asked. Fuuta looked down with a watery smile that made his heart warm. The Earth ring warmed again, bringing a feeling almost like harmony. Like when he had Enma as a friend and ally. It was nice.

"I want to stay with you guys! My rankings were wrong for the first time!" Fuuta cheered. Ieyatsu awkwardly stood there as Fuuta hugged him. Tsuna smiled, slipping into the shadows easily.

Looked like Fuuta was a part of the family again.

His eyes flicked to the side as the pair walked off together. Tsuna drew back into the shadows as a very familiar henchman walked up.****

Looks like it was time for dinner! Tsuna legged it from the park and ended up sprinting the entire way home.

* * *

*Tsuna blanks out some of the more boring tor-training.

**Multiple times because apparently flying was super complicated. Tsuna thought it was the scientists who made it too complicated.

***Tauna ignored his extensive library of swears. He blamed Xanxus for that.

****Tsuna refused to stop calling them that. They were totally henchmen.

* * *

 **I was going to post this in a few days but a particularly long and enthusiastic review convinced me to get to work. Thanks to whatever Guest posted the review! Please Follow/Favorite/Review and I'll write faster!**

 **Some people are asking why Tsuna now gets the warm fuzzies around Fuuta. Fuuta isn't a Guardian or anything, it's just Tsuna's now mixed flames acknowledging a sibling in a way.**

 **Ahaha. I bet you guys know what arc is coming up next.**


	9. Poison in the Air

Becoming the shadow advisor of a Yakuza gang was an accident really.*

It'd occurred when he was about three and what Nana liked to call 'adventurous'. Ieyatsu called it 'Tsu fishy keeps running awwwaaay'. Tsuna preferred to call it readjusting and exploring.

He'd give Ieyatsu the slip and wander around town aimlessly for an hour or two then meander on home. Usually said wanderings had a few visits to adults he knew to capitalize on his baby cuteness.

Needless to say, Ieyatsu's tracking skills were getting a real workout. Tsuna was disappointed with his brother's inability to catch up to a toddler.

Honestly he had been expecting a kidnapping attempt at this point.

It was a classical kidnapping by his refined opinion. Refined because Reborn found happiness in spontaneously kidnapping him in interesting ways. (Tsuna could still hear Gokudera's panicked yells and Mukuro's hysterical laughter). Just a quick snatch and driving off in a car before anyone could react. He considered kicking up a fuss but nixed it. He wanted to see where this went before flipping out.

"Fabio, what's with the fluffy kid?" Tsuna felt a vein pulse in his forehead. "We didn't need another one!" He was pretty sure the driver wasn't the brains of operation. Getaway drivers rarely were.

"I thought we could use one to cover our tracks. Make a decoy!" Tsuna looked over at the other boy, kid a few years older than Ieyatsu. Clearly Japanese, most likely a Yakuza.

"We don't need a decoy. We'll take care of him at the base." Tsuna felt his eyebrow twitch.

He was the son of the CEDEF leader, technically in line for Vongola (he'd take that seat over his cold dead body. Never again. The benefits did not outweigh the paperwork). And these idiots didn't even know that.

He had gotten tied up with a smelly canvas bag shoved over his head for no reason.

So maybe he was the teensy weensiest bit pissed about that. Screw these idiots.

Nobody noticed the toddler settling down with a deceptively sweet smile under the canvas bag.

He allowed himself to be roughly picked up and yanked out of the car. The canvas bag was pulled off and Tsuna blinked, staring up at the one who he presumed was the driver. Ugly one too, this was feeling more and more like the stereotypical movie kidnappings by the minute. He had standards, damn it.

"I'll handle the little guy." The man grumbled. Tsuna felt fear flare up before quashing it down. He had faced Xanxus, some kidnapper wouldn't scare him.

Big guy pulled out a knife and Tsuna smiled. It wasn't a kind smile.

Reborn had drilled into him how to use the separate elements his Sky flame was made up of. He wouldn't be anywhere near say, Gokudera's level, but it was useful. And a terrifying learning process.

Tsuna burst into Crimson flame and the man howled with pain, releasing his grip. Tsuna dropped nimbly to the ground and followed as the man staggered back.

By now the other kidnapper was more focused on his friend burning in front of his eyes. Tsuna thoughtfully set fire to his pants and skipped around him. Yes, it was a tad overkill for people who barely seemed flame aware but he hadn't appreciated their conduct.

The Yakuza stared up at him with wide eyes and for a second, Tsuna felt a flicker of doubt. Kids in the mafia was something he despised but he had no clue if Ieyatsu would oppose it.

Ahaha, like Ieyatsu would do something that threatened his Tsu-tsu.

A quick flicker of Storm flames and the ropes fell away. Tsuna blinked and wobbled as the Storm flame abruptly extinguished itself. He must have used more than he thought to distract the kidnappers. He turned.

They weren't dead yet. Not bad.

Tsuna looked back and raised a hand. "Pretty sure your family's coming by soon." He said. Unless he'd missed a Mist secondary, it didn't look like the kidnappers had covered their tracks well.

Tsuna sauntered off, ducking around the car. He'd hate to end up in the hands off some actually competent people. By know the kidnappers were crumpled on the ground, nursing severe burns. The one who tried to kill him was unconscious already, he'd have to address his flame usage later. Wouldn't do to get sloppy.

"What's your name!" The Yakuza boy yelled. Tsuna turned, grinning mischievously.

"Yoshi!" A swirl of Mist flames and he was out. Tsuna clumsily climbed up from the ground, his limbs feeling leaden. Mist was always a tricky one. Nothing Nana's delicious food couldn't fix.

He winced as Ieyatsu let out an eardrum shattering shriek of joy. Huh, maybe next time he should get kidnapped in front of Ieyatsu.

It would be good training. (Or torture. Tsuna really couldn't tell the difference).

He hadn't been expecting to get kidnapped again the next day. Another snatch and grab, minus the canvas bag. Instead he got dragged all the way to what he was fairly sure was a Yakuza base and plunked down in front of their leader.

If Tsuna craned his head just so, he could make out the boy from yesterday peering around a corner. "Second kidnapping in a week, very productive." He chirped.

"If I am to understand, you are the Storm who took down my son's kidnappers." The man said levelly. Tsuna eyed him and it finally clicked. Ai Yogiro. Fairly small presence in Namimori due to the Hibari family but a respectable Yakuza otherwise. Reborn had drilled the Yakuza families into his head (pop quizzes were his second worst nightmare).

"I don't appreciate being collateral." Tsuna said, just as level. Yakuza had a strict code of honor in one form or another so he'd be safe. Ish. But that was a fun tight wire to walk.

"Is there a reason you knew so much about Flames." Yogiro said.

"Many." Tsuna said. He sort of tuned out after that. Grr, Yakuza boss, you answer my questions. Said answers were phrased as vague as possible.

Long story short, he tended to have a Yakuza shadow occasionally. And Akihiko occasionally showing up where he was in the area. Eventually he tossed them information in return for information on mafia proceedings. Useful for future bribery/blackmail/general chaos plans.

The Yakuza seemed to view him as some sort of growth stunted adult or possibly like an Arcobaleno. Tsuna gleefully kept quiet and cultivated his information broker reputation.

(Okay he wasn't an idiot. Akihiko was clearly a Sky, though not of the magnitude he tended to meet in the future. And as far as the Yogiro family knew, he was a semi powerful Misty Storm. Akihiko seemed understanding however of his rejection. Tsuna kept quiet if only because involuntary recruitment would really mess up his plans).

* * *

"The Arcobaleno Reborn has been spotted in town." Akihiko said, nursing his cup of tea, peering closely at the tiny fluffy child. Yoshi hummed noncommittally, gazing into his cup like it could show him the future. Akihiko fell quiet, watching. Yoshi was contemplating now and he rarely did so.

There was the flash of a toothy grin and a memory rose unbidden of Storm flames. "Looks like things are going to get interesting around here." Yoshi hummed, taking a sip. He looked up, eyes flashing. "It may be best if you take a vacation back to your main base."

Akihiko nodded. "I missed home anyway." It never did good to ignore Yoshi's advice. Yoshi just hummed and returned to staring at his cup.

* * *

When he finally figured out was going on, Tsuna fell into a fit of hysterics. Ieyatsu had panicked but Tsuna waved him off. Of course this had happened, his flames refused to be normal.

He had resonated with Fuuta.

Normally 'true' resonation only happened between Sky and guardian. But apparently his Earth flame and Fuuta's were close enough to register a sibling resonation like his and Ieyatsu's. Meh, he had considered Fuuta as a sibling anyway.

Though it warmed his heart that Fuuta apparently reciprocated.

Almost made him not want to see how much he could mess with gravity.

Ieyatsu nearly had a heart attack the last time Tsuna got caught in Fuuta's Ranking Aura. It was bad for his health. His brother was going to be popping anxiety pills by twenties.

(Tsuna had made it to twenty five before aspirin became a regular feature at his desk.)

((Reborn patted him on the head and said he was so proud. Tsuna took the entire bottle within seconds. Thank god he couldn't overdose.))

But now it was time for fun outing #152.**

With extra Fuuta!

"Are you really sure we should be this far away?" Fuuta asked anxiously. Tsuna pouted cutely, waving a hand. They were only skirting the edge of town! Hardly a big trip.

"It'll be fine! I go exploring around here all the time!" It definitely wasn't because he didn't want to see Hibari again. Nope.

"Ieyatsu threatened to bubble wrap you to your bed." Fuuta said. Tsuna snorted. As if.

Gokudera had already tried it before.*** Granted, it was very weird to wake up to. Gokudera had been way too overprotective. He still was.

"Jokes on him, I put a dog in his room again. That'll distract him." A colorful sign caught his eye. "Wait here and I'll get us some cotton candy to share."

Not even waiting for the answer, Tsuna scampered across the street to the vender. "One please!" He said, smiling. Tsuna counted out the coins and accepted the sugary candy. He turned to head back across the street.

And froze.

Fuuta wasn't there anymore.

Tsuna dropped the cotton candy, sprinted across the street. Fuuta wouldn't have left, he just turned his back for a second.

Tsuna skidded to a stop, closing his eyes. Reaching deep, he sent out a wave of Oath flames. A flare lit in the darkness, a tight bundle of Earth flames, not far away. An alley, about twenty feet away.

And- weaker, an imprint of Sunny flames, vaguely recognizable. Vaguely.

Tsuna opened his eyes and ran, clamping down on all of the curses he wanted to use. He was such an idiot, leaving Fuuta right before Mukuro appeared.

Old guilt twisted. They had never even noticed Fuuta vanishing. Tsuna had just assumed that he wanted some space or had something to do.

It wasn't going to happen again. Never.

Tsuna practically slid into the alleyway. Fuuta had been pressed to the back, clinging to his book like a shield. Ken loomed over him, his back turned. Tsuna gritted his teeth, and reached up to grab the bow in his fluffy hair.

He wouldn't let Fuuta get taken away.

Blank eyes-terror-"the Ranking Planet abandoned me"

Rusty red flames burst into being, surrounding him like a halo. A metal trash can jerked into Ken and then Ken was stumbling away. Tsuna darted forward, grabbing Fuuta's hand and pulling him forward.

Fuuta stumbled then hit his stride, quickly pulling ahead. Looks like the kid hadn't lost his 'run away' skill yet.

Sun flames pulsed behind them as Tsuna gritted his teeth, forcing his Intuition to a manageable level. A migraine was already developing.

Now how to outrun someone with beast paths.

Tsuna dove to the side, shoving Fuuta away. Ken skidded to a stop just past them, snarling. Ooh fangs.

What an absolute joy.

"Not today." Tsuna muttered, releasing the Earth flames. Gravity twisted and Ken stumbled, falling to his knees. Tsuna bolted towards Fuuta, dragging him forward.

They only made it another couple of blocks, closer to the school then home before Tsuna stumbled, nearly taking Fuuta down with him.

"Tsuna?" And there was worry in there. Tsuna forced a grin, keeping his eyes forward.

"I'm fine. The air decided to trip me." He hadn't had to fight like that for a while now and reaching for Earth flames felt like he was pulling something out of quicksand. He wanted Enma to give him tips. And to be generally an actually sane person.****

"My family is blessed with clumsiness." Tsuna said, turning his head slightly to look back at Fuuta.

"O-" Tsuna was focusing on something beyond Fuuta, a glint of sunlight and then he was throwing himself back, yanking Fuuta forward then releasing. Fuuta was sent sprawling ungracefully across the ground, his book cushioning his fall.

The needles stung when they hit.

Tsuna reached for his Flame and stumbled. His stomach rebelled and Tsuna wobbled on his feet. Poison.

"Tsu-" And Tsuna blinked. When had he fallen over? Fuuta was looking down, clearly worried.

And then there was a yelp and Fuuta was dragged away. Tsuna hissed, forcing himself up. The world spun and blurred and his stomach twisted. There was a numbness in his back now and that probably was not good.

He couldn't quite muster up any panic.

Ken had Fuuta by the collar, Fuuta's book tucked underneath his arm. Tsuna slid slowly to his feet, wobbling slightly.

"Leave him alone." And it came out slurred and weird.

"What are you gonna do brat." Ken said, smile feral. Behind him, Tsuna could see Chikusa in the shadows. Bad, this was bad. One he could distract, probably. Two? He had nothing.

He should have brought Natsu along this morning.

"I'm not letting you take Fuuta." Tsuna said. He didn't have much time left. The numbness was started to spread. His head felt like it was stuffed with wool.

"Herbivore."

Tsuna had never been more grateful to hear that in this life and his other.

He glanced over his shoulder. Hibari stood, like some sort of pissed of pagan God finding heathens in their church. "They're trying to kidnap Fuuta. Think it's against the rules."

Oh there was the sky again.

Tsuna ignored the noise in the background. He felt like napping. Just for a bit.

* * *

*He could never escape. Organized crime was like some sort of twisted magnet for him.

**Not to be mistaken for #142 which was when Ieyatsu became convinced he had been kidnapped by aliens.

***Multiple times. Mukuro had laughed himself sick.

****Tsuna ignored the fact a common person wouldn't call him sane. Next to Reborn? Everyone looked better in comparison.*****

*****Never say that in front of Mukuro. He took it as a challenge.

* * *

 **Sorry for taking so long! And for the cliffhanger, but that's necessary for the story. Don't worry, Tsuna won't die.**

 **Anyways, Please Favorite/Follow/Review! Reviews really help with writer's block.**


	10. Illusionists are the Worst

Fon took another sip of his tea as he flipped though his messages. A letter from the Triads, into the trash. Three assassination requests, espionage request, and a letter from Verde that boiled down to 'come here and let me do science on you'.

Fon hid a smile behind his sleeve as he set that letter aside. It was fascinating to see how the scientist reworded it each month.

His Flames instinctively unfurled and Fon set the teacup down.

Somebody familiar was heading towards him. A brief flame check and Fon sighed. He swept the letters into a box sitting next to him for later perusal.

The door slammed open, bouncing off the wall from the force. "It was unlocked." Fon said mildly.

"Carnivore uncle." Kyoya growled. Fon scanned him. His nephew looked a touch more roughed up than usual. Did Reborn start throwing mafioso into the town like he threatened to?

"Kyoya, why did you feel like coming in without warning?" Fon asked. Kyoya rolled his eyes, dropping something unceremoniously to the floor.

Fon stood, walking around the table to get a better look.

It was a young child with brown fluffy hair. Unconscious but likely not from the drop. "Did you pick up an apprentice?" Fon said, walking closer.

Kyoya hissed, sounding remarkably like a cat. "Uncle." Half warning.

Fon ignored the warning. Kyoya was powerful but not at his level yet. As much as it angered the teenager.

"I know my sister would like grandchildren but I feel kidnapping isn't the answer." Fon continued, hiding his amusement. Kyoya looked like he dearly wished one of the attempts on Fon's life had worked.*

"The herbivore was poisoned when two outsider herbivores attacked it." Kyoya said. Fon winced on the inside. His nephew was definitely in a bad mood.

"Did you… Inform them of the rules?"

"They ran away with another herbivore's property. Cowardly herbivores." Kyoya snapped, hands twitching towards his tonfas.

Fon put that through his Kyoya translater and blinked. Obviously those two must be at least reasonably powerful if they had escaped his nephew. "You rely too much on your brute strength." Fon said, leaning down to check for a heartbeat.

He skillfully ignored Kyoya's angry hisses and swayed to avoid the tonfa swing. There was still a heart beat, slow but strong.

Fon hummed, pulsing his Flames out.

And wobbled slightly.

Powerful Sky, possibly Luce or above powerful. And another Flame, that felt odd. "Kyoya did you really kidnap Reborn's student's younger brother?" Now that he looked, he recognized the younger. They had bought some gyoza from him when I Pin was going off for her 'mission'.

"Kidnapping implies the herbivore struggled." Hibari said instead. Fon sighed, slightly exasperated.

"That's not how it works Kyoya." Reborn was going to be a pain. The hitman would have happily dump chaos on his doorstep if giving the slightest provocation. Or no provocation at all.

Kyoya huffed, turning away from him. Fon ran a chubby hand down his braid. "The child will be recovered soon."

The poison wasn't much. Dangerous for children, but the boy would have needed a much higher dose. The Sky flames had already been eating away at it.

Fon stretched. "And if that's all, my apprentice requested I check up on her seal." Apparently seeing Kyoya set her off. Fon had a sneaking suspicion there was more to it than a slightly off seal.

"Go play with the herbivores then." Kyoya said. Fon smiled peacefully and kicked Kyoya's legs out from under him.

With the serene grace only attained by dealing with the other Arcobaleno for years, Fon ignored Kyoya's snarls to leap out of the open window. It was alright, Kyoya wouldn't make too much of a mess.

* * *

Tsuna stirred, wheezing slightly.

He felt worse than the time Reborn made him climb a cliff while he had the flu. Everything was achy. Tsuna slowly pushed himself up, glancing around to take in the room.

It definitely wasn't home. Sparse but with a few tasteful decorations that leaned more to China than Japan.

And the Hibari sitting on the windowsill. Tsuna was 90% sure that wouldn't be in his room. Unless it was to murder him in his sleep.**

Now, how to delicately ask the reasons why he was here in a way that would not have Hibari at his throat. Something intelligent, that utilized the diplomatic skills Reborn had taught him (Tsuna could barely think that with a straight face).

"Was I kidnapped?" Tsuna asked. Reflexively, he winced. That was not what he planned to say.

"Kidnapping is against Namimori's rules." Hibari said casually, shuffling his tonfas.

Tsuna reconsidered, bringing up memories of the circuitous conversations he had to have with Hibari and Mukuro. "Was I taken from somewhere without me or my family's consent?"

Hibari glared and Tsuna shut his mouth with a snap, repressing the urge to shriek. Hibari got vicious when he shrieked too loudly.

The prefect eyed him like a vengeful God wondering if the heathen should be struck down for insolence or given a brief period of mercy.***

Then Hibari snorted, turning away and rolling out of the open window with graceful ease. Tsuna felt a pang of jealousy at the neat exit. Usually the most graceful he got jumping out of windows was when his Guardians decided his office was the perfect place for a battle royal and he was flinging himself out of the crossfire.

Sighing, Tsuna stood, wobbling slightly. Something on his Sky tugged, an unspoken question and Tsuna tugged back. Agreement.

Tsuna grabbed onto the windowsill, pushing up until he was sitting on the edge, legs dangling in the open air. Less than four feet to fall and the window opened into a deserted but fairly clean alley.

He sat for a moment, gasping quietly. It wasn't as bad as before but his muscles felt tingly and lax, as if every part of his body had fallen asleep at the same time.

He should probably make sure Hibari didn't nearly kill himself. Oh for the halcyon future days when Hibari had known some concept of restraint. Or at least patiently waiting to ambush the person.

By the time Tsuna was safely to ground, Natsu was turning the corner into the alley. The corners of Tsuna's mouth turned up in a smile as Tsuna rubbed the fur under the lion's current gold plaid scarf, eliciting a purr.

Hibari had already vanished from sight.

Tsuna rubbed at his forehead. "Did we memorize the quickest route to Kokuyo?" Nope.

Natsu rumbled, stretching. Tsuna felt his grin slip into something a bit more wicked. "Well, if it's just a quick ride and we're already near the edge of town…" Kudos to presumably Fon by the flame traces he was picking up. Good location for a house, unnoticeable and easy to slip out of town.

Tsuna giggled maniacally, reaching out with his Sky. Natsu's form seemed to waver like a heat mirage. When it settled, Natsu was fully grown. A rumble echoed through the air.

"Yeah yeah." Tsuna said, reaching up to readjust the scarf. Natsu crouched as Tsuna readjusted his grip before swinging up onto the lion's back.

"Do you think we can make you bigger later? Riding a giant fiery lion into battle would be hilarious." Tsuna said. "Maybe Cloud flames could help? I should ask Skull about that."

He missed his partner in crime in running far away.****

Natsu stood before bounding down the alleyway in quick easy strides. Tsuna squawked, gripping the scarf tighter. They'd have to be careful, practice taught them Natsu couldn't retain lion form if Tsuna was using his flames for other reasons like a Mist illusion.

Tsuna may have a slightly unhealthy interest in chaos but Reborn was doing a fine enough job pulling in civilians.

The alleyway opened into a quiet side street Tsuna recognized from one of his many adventures. Natsu turned off into the next alley instead of staying there, weaving through the network of backstreets.

He may or may not have zoned out most of the time. Paranoia had nothing on Hyper Intuition.

So when Natsu arrived at the edge of Kokuyo Land, Tsuna squeaked as he tumbled off Natsu's back. He had told his lion to be more careful and to slow down before stopping but no.

Natsu gao'd, shrinking back down. Tsuna wobbled slightly, taking a deep breath. Alright, he could do this.

Navigating the abandoned buildings wasn't even hard. Honestly, Tsuna felt a little embarrassed looking back at his experience, years of experience picking out how they had simply stumbled from one trap to the next.

Though if he and Natsu had to wriggle into a hole barely big enough to fit them to dodge the bloody twins one more time, he was going to use Zero Point Breakthrough to cover as much area as possible, and screw the consequences.

Of course Mukuro had to be far enough along with his flames to be able to lace the area with them. No illusions for Tsuna.

Though it did make him feel better about his experience. He didn't have enough Mist knowledge to pick it out from memory but Mukuro had probably been using the Mist traces to lead them by the nose. Tsuna had all the luck when it came to insane geniuses.

Thank the gods Belphegor had already been snapped up by Xanxus.

So when he finally got to the area (in the end, he found it because Hibari broke the wall and the rubble nearly hit him), Tsuna was done.

No Ieyatsu to try to coddle him, and no Reborn to dodge.

Tsuna reached up to grab his bow tie as he stepped into the room. Hibari's eyes immediately slid to him but Mukuro has a hair slower on the uptake. So when Tsuna smacked him with Earth flames, Mukuro stumbled, nearly falling to his knees.

Hibari reacted like he scented blood in the water, lunging forward to land heavy blows on Mukuro's unguarded head.

Mukuro snarled and the room warped. Tsuna gasped as vines wrapped around him, constricting his throat. He clawed at the vines, wheezing for air, but he couldn't damage these they grew back even as his blunt nails tore at them, his younger body was too weak-

Something bit his hand and Tsuna yelped. He jerked backwards, the vines phasing out of sight.

Tsuna cursed in five languages, looking down. Natsu blinked up, mock innocent even as tiny droplets of blood welled up from the puncture wounds.

He forgot how good Mukuro was, even at this age. Tsuna glanced up. Hibari barely seemed affected, Cloudy enough to reject and tear at the reality Mukuro was trying to create.

But even Hibari had to take a second to dodge the vines. Tsuna locked eyes with Mukuro. "Kufufu, the second son of the Vongola Lion has arrived."

"The son of a bitch is screwing with reality. Wow, this is definitely what I wanted to wake up to this morning." Tsuna sniped back. Surprise everybody, Tsuna doesn't like being choked.

He had years of dealing with Mukuro's snit fits. Younger Mukuro with his elaborate plot had nothing on the time Mukuro orchestrated his death and attended the funeral. With no disguise.

Tsuna ducked, a fireball barely singing the tips of his hair spikes.

It wasn't real but it felt real and now he really wished he had accepted the offer from Squalo for the lessons the man had called: "How to deal with your psychotic Mist who delights in other people's pain". (In reflection, was Squalo talking about Mammon or Fran with a title like that?)

Tsuna was almost surprised when his Intuition pinged him. And then there was a grip around his shirt collar and he was getting dragged up to look a savage Ken in the eyes.

Internally he was banging his head against the wall because between Natsu and the poison, he couldn't muster the Sky flames.

Tsuna's wheeze attracted Hibari's attention because out of the corner of his eye, he saw the prefect's eyes slide towards him and then Mukuro lunged forward with his trident.

And oh dear gods if Mukuro got the ability to possess Hibari, they were probably going to die, future knowledge or not.

Natsu was going to be so pissed.

Tsuna reached and it felt like burning himself because his conduit wasn't quite close enough, even at his throat. And Ken was starting to shake him like a rag doll.

He brought up all the Earth flames he had and threw Natsu at Mukuro's head.

Natsu yowled as he hit Mukuro, biting and clawing at whatever exposed flesh he could reach. Mukuro shrieked, ripping Natsu off and throwing him at the nearest wall. Natsu landed with gentle ease. Which was then ruined by the cat bolting out of the room.

Tsuna noted that he should kick Mukuro at the nearest opportunity.

"Impudent brat." Ken snarled. Tsuna forced himself to relax as the shaking slowed. And then he grinned up at Ken, refocusing on what was in front of him, not behind.

"Yeah but I'm an adorably chaotic one." Tsuna said. And then he swung his body up to kick Ken in the teeth.

Ken howled, reflexively dropping Tsuna to catch his beast teeth as the teeth threatened to slip out. Tsuna landed on his feet, landing right on the tips of Ken's toes.

Tsuna used the distraction to bolt across the room, leaping over the fissure in the floor as it formed.

He was nearly to a hole in the wall when the ground around him softened, turning to quicksand. "Fucking hells." Tsuna cursed, leaping up and twisting to catch himself with his Earth flames.

Tsuna stabilized into a wobbly hover over the floor, even as it seemed to collapse into the void underneath him.

"You're better than I thought you would be." Tsuna huffed a sigh, looking up at Mukuro. Behind Mukuro, through the cracks in the wall, he could see Hibari on the ground.

Stupid Sakura disease.

Tsuna bit down on his lip as Ken stepped forward, growling. Mukuro held up a hand. "I'd rather you not harm the new bargaining chip. With this, your brother will hand himself over. And then I'll have everything I need."

"Fine Mukuro." Ken said, backing out of the room.

"And we were having such a nice chat." Tsuna said, having a theatrical sigh. Distract the psychopath. Jokes on Mukuro, he had been playing the game for years.

The ground beneath him returned but now it seemed molten, on the verge of eruption. He knew it wasn't real but he could feel the heat wafting up and he didn't have the Sky flames to rip through it and not enough Earth flames to zip away.

Natsu tugged mentally and Tsuna brushed him off, refocusing on Mukuro. No need for Natsu to enter the danger zone.

"I suppose I'll have to use plan I." Tsuna said, lips curling into a smile. Mukuro cocked his head, oddly bird like.

"And what would this plan be?" Mukuro said. Tsuna was full on grinning now even as Mukuro stepped forward, bringing his trident up.

"I don't know, never got around to making it. Probably was just running away now that I think about it." Tsuna said. Mukuro's free hand flexed, and Tsuna cocked his head to the side.

"I won't be giving my bargaining chip that opportunity." Mukuro said. But he was vaguely interested and focused on Tsuna.

Tsuna hissed out a slightly maniacal giggle as the dregs of his Sky flames tugged. "I think I remember what Plan I was."

He made sure to savor the look on Mukuro's face when the outer wall crumbled to reveal Ieyatsu. Who promptly punched Mukuro across the room.

"DEFEAT MUKURO AND SAVE TSU FISHY WITH MY DYING WILL!"

Who knew you could go into Dying Will mode through sheer determination?

(Tsuna did).

* * *

Omake

"I'd rather not work with the man who put my family in danger!" Ieyatsu hissed, glaring at Kawahira. Kawahira smiled disarmingly back and Ieyatsu growled.

"Don't be so rude to our ancestor Yatsu." Tsuna said, absent mindedly shuffling through papers on the desk. Paperwork hiss.

Ieyatsu did a double take. Gokudera tripped and disintegrated a hole in the floor with his Storm. Ryohei wasn't even listening. Tsuna delighted in Reborn's expression. It wasn't every day you saw a man look like his world was flipped upside down. Without actually being flipped upside down.

Kawahira gave a whole new meaning to the saying 'slapped in the face with a fish'.

Tsuna took in the room, faux innocence on his face. "Am I the only one who looks at the genealogy charts?"

Okay technically he saw it in his past timeline and then double checked it in this timeline but same difference.

"Giotto had a grandfather. Records are a bit blurry on his name but said great grandfather has no logged parents. I double checked with Yuni who provided me with Sephira's diary. The name and timing correlated with another earthling, one who passed soon after Giotto's birth."

Tsuna shrugged. "Technically, it's probably an adopted relationship, but yeah you could say Kawahira is distantly related."

Tsuna reflected on the wisdom of hiding cameras in Ieyatsu's office. With these reactions, he'd have enough blackmail for a very long time.

He might have a bit more if he told Ieyatsu their ancestor's real name but honestly. Hamaguri?

What is with their lineage having an obsession with clams?

* * *

 _*Kyoya used to practice assassination by attempting to kill Fon. Tsuna had face planted into the desk when Fon calmly told him because of course this is what the Hibari family was like._

 _**Hibari used to make attempts. So many attempts. Thank the gods Mukuro never found out or they might have collaborated._

 _***Sometimes he worried about the wording he tended to use to describe Hibari._

 _****Tsuna, Skull, and Enma had a club. A club that preferred a very large buffer. Club meeting were usually spent creating elaborate escape plans. Plans that were then use to escape Reborn crashing the meeting._

* * *

 **This chapter was hard to write. Between Fon and Mukuro, I had to fight and rewrite this.**

 **Mukuro was particularly annoying because he's an insane genius but a powerful one considering the Ring Battles. And he wouldn't have training time at Vendicare so he was near Arcobaleno level early on. So Hibari must have done some damage before Tsuna and company arrived.**

 **Also first ripples in the timeline. Due to Tsuna's poisoning and kidnapping, Hibari confronted Mukuro a lot earlier before the countdown attacks. And Ieyatsu showed up very angry.**

 **I'm happy I got this done. Please Favorite/Follow/Review if you liked it! I love having reviews to read over.**

 **Also, I'm going to start cross posting this story to my Archiveofourown account, under the name of Poker, so don't be worried if it pops up there!**


	11. Mummy Police

Tsuna slumped bonelessly against the cold wall, taking the chance to suck in fresh air like a starving man before looking up.

Ieyatsu was going after Mukuro like a dog with a bone, completely ignoring or going straight through any of the illusions Mukuro threw up. He wheezed out a laugh.

That would have been a good thing to know when he faced Mukuro.

Ieyatsu was so lucky to have a cute younger brother like him, helping him out with situations like this~

His Intuition pinged and Tsuna grinned internally. His cuteness brings all the people to the yard.

"Your cat is okay." Reborn said, landing nearby. Tsuna twitched in fake surprise, perhaps a bit over dramatizing it based on the way Reborn's eyes narrow.

That or Reborn is still being a bit paranoid about Natsu.* He could practically hear the air quotations around the word cat.

"Good. I'm gonna have to get the expensive cat treats out, I kinda maybe used him as a projectile. To throw at Mukuro. Desperate times call for desperate measures." He was going to have to grovel so much. It was never nice to have his best friend angry at him.

Angry Natsu meant sulking hiding Natsu. And that could take a while to fix if he didn't deal with it right away.

"Considering the way he used the beast boy's head as a springboard to escape, I don't think he was injured." Reborn said drily. Tsuna hunched over, wheezing out a laugh.

Oh god why did the best things happen where he didn't have a camera to record it? Ken's face would have been beautiful.

The was a bone shaking crash and Tsuna looked over to watch as Mukuro got slammed into a wall. Ieyatsu slowed, panting.

Thank the lord he at least had the intelligence and foresight to start putting small cameras in his ring bow tie. They were delicate but this blackmail footage would be worth it.

Mukuro would probably kill him for it, despite his cuteness, but it would be worth it.

Daw, he had almost forgotten the days where Mukuro hadn't quite reach the demon levels he was capable of.**

Namely that his hand to hand was currently terrible. It made Tsuna cringe a little inside as he watched. Ieyatsu's form was atrocious and even he was still able to dodge the trident.

Poor Ieyatsu. Hope he didn't get used to that though. By the time Mukuro was out of Vendicare, he had grown into the trident and was absolutely terrifying.

Tsuna had let Mukuro spar with him once without Flames. Never again. If it wasn't for the Vendice, he'd wonder if it was an elaborate assassination plot.***

Tsuna put his hand on the wall, carefully climbing to his feet. Reborn watched him with an air of curiosity but didn't offer a helping hand. Rude.

Reserves were still drained. So that route was out. Which left him the fun but kind of difficult route.

Mukuro would probably maim him for this.

Tsuna looked up to see a flash of grey in Mukuro's palms. One thing hadn't changed, young Mukuro was just as much a drama queen as his elder version. He had the best taste in Guardians.

Mukuro aimed the gun at his head. Tsuna bolted forward as fast as his little legs could carry him.

Mukuro squawked as he suddenly found himself with a little kid wrapped around his neck. Tsuna smiled devilishly into the fabric of Mukuro's shirt, quickly schooling it into a sad puppy eyes (subsection 6, 1.3 version).

He clung to the gun, turning it away from Mukuro's head. Mukuro, still in shock, let him.

"Don't do it!" Tsuna wailed. "Momma told me you never kill yourself! Never ever! Things get better! You can get medicine and therapy!"

He was going to relish the look on Mukuro's face for the rest of his likely short life.

Behind him, he could hear a crash and someone wheezing for air. Looks like the dying will bullet just ran out. Pity. Would Ieyatsu have tried to prevent Mukuro with his dying will?

Tsuna sharply turned his hand, managing to force Mukuro to let go and toss the gun back. It skidded along the ground, out of reach.

Then, faux seriously, He patted Mukuro on the face. Mukuro looked like he was blue screening. Or trapped between murderous intent and complete confusion.

"You should be more careful Pineapple. Pointing a gun at your head isn't safe at all. You could have killed yourself or been seriously hurt." Tsuna said. Mukuro looked like he was about to tip over into murder at the pineapple comment.

He was going to have a fun time when he met Fran.

Speaking of which, Tsuna should get on that. He was ridiculously fond of the teal haired Mist's antics.

Xanxus and he had even kinda sorta bonded a little bit over it in a spar. Mostly yelling back and forth between blows about who had the worst Mist.****

Tsuna totally won that competition no matter what Xanxus said.

"You stupid little child." Mukuro hissed. Tsuna leaned in close.

"Try adorable." He was not acknowledging the little part. He was not that short. It was perfectly normal for his age. He would grow. Just that there seemed to be a minimum height requirement for the mafia sometimes.

Tsuna then head butted Mukuro in the nose.

Mukuro cursed, reaching up to check his nose. Behind him, Tsuna heard the door crash open as Gokudera blew into the room. Good. Lower chance of death or maiming.

He could also practically hear Ieyatsu flail behind him, and Tsuna determinedly held on to Mukuro's shirt as arms wrapped around him and tried to tug him off.

"I can't leave him! What if he attempts to hurt himself again." Tsuna insisted, packing all the sadness into his voice that he could muster. The arms around his middle loosened, Ieyatsu not wanting to make his brother sad.

"He tried to hurt you Tuna!" Ieyatsu said. Tsuna shook his head, clinging closer.

"He's just sad and confused!" Tsuna said. Resist the urge to laugh, resist.

Mukuro, for his part, was watching this strange sibling argument with wide incredulous eyes. Hard to keep up murderous intent in the face of a child on the verge of tears attempting to cling onto your shirt with all they had.

Tsuna almost pitied him.

"Hey! Jyuudaime's brother! Release Rokudo!" Gokudera said behind him.

"Never!" Tsuna shrieked, milking it for all he was worth. Ieyatsu was tugging again but softer this time.

Tsuna could hear the frost snap in the air and how the shadows grew along the wall when the Vendice arrived.

Ieyatsu's grip loosened, allow two black chains to snake past and wrap around Mukuro, pinning his arms to his side.

And pinning Tsuna to him.

Tsuna squeaked a little at the constriction. Perfect. Sort of to plan at least. His presence prevented the Vendice from quickly taking Mukuro as they had before.

"Hey! Leggo!" He cried, wriggling slightly in the chains. They weren't exactly comfortable, cold and prickling against his flames as well as his skin. Ieyatsu shrieked, turning to charge the Vendice members.

"Let my adorable little brother go, you caped fiends!" Then received a ten ton mallet to the face, sending him bouncing off the wall.

Reborn looked uncharacteristically serious, eyes shaded under his fedora. "Those are the Vendice. The police of the mafia world. You should not try to attack them Dame Ieyatsu." He said.

"But they have Tsu-tsu!" Ieyatsu wailed. Tsuna pressed his hands against Mukuro's chest, glaring at the Vendice.

"And what's your charges!" He snapped. The lead Vendice cocked his head slightly.

"Murder of two famiglias and countless others as well as escaping custody." Huh, toning it down a bit. Or they didn't want to list off all of the crimes.

Tsuna has seen the complete list along with a census of the mafioso Mukuro had murdered. It was long. Mukuro was very smug about the ashy look Tsuna had for the rest of the day.

Time to keep going. Here's hoping the Vendice don't murder or imprison him to save time.

"What about the blood family law?" Tsuna said. Reborn visibly stiffened. The chains loosened marginally.

"State your reasoning."

"Ieyatsu is the heir to the Vongola and student of Reborn. He has defeated Mukuro and his allies in a fair fight. So he gets to choose if he want Mukuro, Ken, Lancia, and Chikusa in his Family." Tsuna parroted off. There was M.M. as well but from what he could remember, the slightly longer time that she would have to stay in Vendicare had really matured her. She later went on to the Science division, specifically sonic weapons.

Technically it was a really old law that he was using, a throw back to the early days of mafia where land and personnel disputes were common. Winner got to choose if they want certain people from the loser's family.

Wasn't used much nowadays because you had to prove you could handle it, have a high ranking position, and be ready for any sabotage.

Okay, he shouldn't have known this. But he had the mafia textbooks as an excuse and when in doubt, there were mafia websites. He actually discovered it in his past timeline early on in his boss role, memorizing all the loopholes because his Family seemed to be intent on breaking every single law in existence.*****

The Vendice moved slightly and Tsuna knew they were conversing in that weird creepy way of theirs. Probably talking to Bermuda.

Maybe he should try to establish more communication with the Vendice sooner. Bermuda actually wasn't that bad, at long as the conversation kept away from Checkerface.

The Vendice stopped, staring at Tsuna. He stared back with wide eyes. "The Vongola will owe the Vendice a favor."

Welcome to hell, mummies, Tsuna had done so many negotiations, he actually did one in his sleep once. Mostly about his Guardians.

"Limited to Ieyatsu or me, within reason, that will not cause any significant damage or death to him and his." There. That should give some wriggle room if the Arcobaleno Trials happened the same way.

Ieyatsu spluttered behind him. Reborn was watching him with those creepy soulless eyes (the opposite of puppy dog eyes).

The Vendice paused again. "These terms are acceptable. If Mukuro and his allies escape again, they will be back in our legal custody and will face higher penalties."

"Acceptable. A pleasure to talk with you. Maybe we can chat again sometime." Tsuna said. "I'd wish you goodbye individually but I feel you would not want me to know your names."

Okay, that technically was not in the textbook negotiation, but it was polite. Mama raised him to be polite. And he knew for a fact that the Vendice liked people seeing them as individuals rather than a faceless mass.

The lead Vendice dipped their head in acknowledgment and the chains around them pulled back. Tsuna shifted, trying to get comfortable.

Then the Vendice seemed to fade away in the shadows.

Tsuna breathed a sigh of relief. He may do negotiations well but with the Vendice, there's no telling how they could react. They could have very well ignored his status as secondary heir and dragged him off to Vendicare as well.

He glanced back at Mukuro who honestly looked like he didn't know how to react.

Tsuna moved for him, patting him on the head. "You need therapy. And Mama's food." He said. Then he scooted down and stood off, brushing off his hands before turning towards the room at large.

His brother seemed dazed but panicky. Gokudera looked like he had attempted to become a statue in the face of the Vendice and was now unfreezing.

Tsuna could never tell with Reborn.

"Good negotiation." He said, deceptively mild. "Where did you find out about the blood family law?"

Tsuna scrunched up his face. "Got curious about what Gokudera was talking about, you know, loser serving the victor in his fight with Ieyatsu and looked through some books. And all the manners and stuff came from Mama and the textbooks."

Short. Sweet. Not technically a lie. Probably the only way he would ever be able to hide things from Reborn in a conversation.

Reborn pushed up the brim of his hat. "Fascinating."

Tsuna had a good feeling Reborn wanted to say a few other things and this conversation wasn't over.

Meh, he saved Mukuro and co. He'll deal with any suspicion later. He turned back. "Sorry if I accidentally missed one of your allies in my list. Negotiations are really hard. Big brother never tells me anything."

"Tsu-Tsu!" Ieyatsu wailed. "I just want to protect your innocence!"

Ha. Ha. Innocence. He hadn't had that in years, not since a baby hitman showed up on his doorstep.

"I'll kill you." Mukuro says. He still sounded unsure, thrown off by the new events. "Ask Lancia what I did to his Famiglia."

Ieyatsu shrieked. Tsuna waved a hand. "Then you go back to Vendicare. And I don't think Reborn would let you kill Iey-kun."

Reborn sounded suspiciously quiet.

"Reborn! I thought you were supposed to be teaching me!" Ieyatsu wailed.

"Don't worry I'll protect you Jyuudaime!"

"Of course I'm teaching you Dame Ieyatsu. You're a terrible student." Reborn drawled, hands flicking over Mukuro's gun and the Possession Bullet inside. With a flicker of golden flame, the gun deformed until it resembled a half melted clump of metal.

Tsuna giggled. "Ah, you sound like you're having a lot of fun with Reborn, Iey-Chan." Ieyatsu spluttered.

"I am not having fun with him!" Ieyatsu said. Reborn's eyes gained a sadistic glint.

"How rude Dame Ieyatsu. I suppose I can start a lesson right now however." Leon helpfully changed into a gun.

Ieyatsu shrieked and bolted out of the room. Reborn deftly dodged the bombs raining down towards him and kicked Gokudera out the door with ease, following them out like a wolf intent on a pathetic herbivore.

"So cute." Tsuna cooed. His Intuition pinged. "Aw, how disappointing."

He turned back. Mukuro was busying himself examining his trident that had been thrown to the side. Specifically the sharp points. "We should start running soon Mukuro."

"And why should I do that?" Mukuro said, glancing back. Tsuna shrugged.

"Because Hibari is going to wake up soon and be seriously pissed? Because Mama is making fried tofu for lunch?" Fried tofu was very important. Especially Nana's fried tofu.

"I think I can handle that pathetic Cloud." Behind him, Tsuna could hear a growl and the shifting of rocks. Hibari was nearly up.

Screw it, his flames felt better now and he did too well to have Mukuro be murdered by Hibari now. Or vice versa.

Tsuna reaches up, grabbed his bow tie, and simply picked up Mukuro. "It's lunchtime. We're going." He said firmly.

Mukuro made a sound like an angry cat and tried to conjure a lotus to strangle him. Tsuna dodged before turning and dragging Mukuro with him. "I gave you the option to walk. You said no."

From the sounds Mukuro was making, Tsuna honestly had to wonder if Estraneo slipped in some animal DNA during their experiments. He twitched, the trident flashing down beside his head.

Rude.

He ended up dropping Mukuro is favor of picking up the semiconscious Chikusa and flat out unconscious Ken. Mukuro did not seem very grateful for that.

Ah, looks like Lancia had left. He'll be fine, he was competent and Tsuna had some Internet contacts he could send Lancia's way.

Tsuna rocked to the side, dodging another vine. "Careful, I nearly dropped Ken."

"What do I care, they're just tools." Mukuro spit out.

The air dropped a few degrees.

This is younger Mukuro, Tsuna reminded himself. Damaged by his life experience. Don't murder younger Mukuro.

"Because they would have given their lives for yours. Because people are not a means to an end, they are people. And Chikusa and Ken have given you their loyalty." He glared at Mukuro.

"So what." Mukuro snorted. Even so, Tsuna didn't miss the way his eyes flickered over his partners, checking for damage. He hid a smile. Mukuro could talk the talk, but even now he still worried.

Tsuna ambled away, completely ignoring the explosions coming from the other end of the park. "Now come on, Mama is going to love you."

* * *

Eventually Ken and Chikusa did wake up.

Chikusa stirred first but didn't move. Tsuna could feel the half lidded eyes boring into his back. Ken was the same, despite his boisterous nature.

"The weak Vongola negotiated with the Vendice on our behalf." Mukuro huffed eventually, twirling his trident. "Effectively we're prisoners."

"Kind of." Tsuna chipped in. "You'll be closely monitored and if you commit a crime without justification, you'll go back under the Vendice with harsher punishments."

"Why the hell would the Vongola negotiate for us?" Ken said. Chikusa was still watching. It would be more unsettling but Tsuna had to babysit Fran for a week in the past timeline.

Mists never needed to blink.

"Because I wanted to? Because as scary as you are, you're a bunch of teenagers and Vendicare isn't really equipped with dealing with past trauma? To make Ieyatsu freak out?" Tsuna said, putting his arms behind his head. "Take your pick."

Mukuro snorted. "May I be put down?" Chikusa said.

Tsuna hummed. "Sorry, I don't trust you guys not to gang up on me yet." Streets were empty along the route they were taking anyway.

"I hope you guys are hungry anyway. Mama likes to cook for others." He continued.

* * *

Nana loved them.

After fussing about with their various injuries (Tsuna quickly took over Mukuro's care as the Mist kept illusions over most his injuries), Nana happily fed the new teenagers.

Even suspicious Chikusa tucked into the spread, all of them using their best manners for once. Tsuna stole a plate in the beginning, happily munching away.

If there was a food related flame, his mother would have it. She was an amazing cook.

Ken growled as a spoon smacked his hand. "What the hell was that for pipsqueak?"

"You should eat slower or you'll make yourself sick." Tsuna said. It was pretty obvious that they hadn't been fed enough lately.

Ken grumbled but did slow down after that. Tsuna refrained from commenting, knowing they wouldn't appreciate it instead keeping his eyes on his own food. Mukuro kept glancing up to look at Tsuna, eyes narrowed.

Tsuna ignored it, setting down his empty plate. "Mama?"

"Yes dear?" Nana said, looking away from the stove.

"Mukuro and his friends will need a place to stay for a while." Tsuna said, mentally thanking the fact they had a big house. And his mother had a big heart.

"Ah? They can stay with us then, we should have an empty guest bedroom." Nana said. Chikusa jerked slightly.

"Well, that's settled then." Tsuna said, sneakily grabbing two more fried tofu slices. He'd need something to bribe Natsu with later.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Mukuro said, tilting his head. "I murdered the last Famiglia we stayed with."

"Yup. You're not stupid Mukuro." Tsuna said. The Possession bullet was gone. It would take time before Mukuro could possess someone without the bullet. The Vongola and Vendice would both have a close eye on him now.

That didn't, however, stop Tsuna from sneakily lacing their door later in the evening with nearly unnoticeable Sky flames, to help keep them calmer. And to warn him if something went wrong.

He was Reborn's student. Paranoia was part of the package.

Reborn had already trapped the door before he got there. Tsuna could feel the thrumming warm Sun flames under the wooden surface. Maybe for spying, maybe for gruesome torture in case of escape, who knows?

He didn't feel like it would come to that however. Tsuna hummed, taking a step back.

It was… nice. To have been able to take Mukuro away from Vendicare. Chikusa and Ken had left quickly but Mukuro stayed imprisoned within for far longer. Despite his antics, it was one of the things he refused to talk about in depth, even the early years.

He may not be quite the same Mukuro but he was achingly similar. Enough that Tsuna wanted to keep him safe.

Now was not that time for distraction though. He had to go bribe his way back into the good graces of a lion cub.

* * *

 _*Despite sneakily laid Mist Flames around Natsu, Reborn knew something was off. He just didn't know what._

 _**Tsuna fully expected that one day Mukuro would take over Hell. While still alive._

 _***It was. Tsuna just didn't comment and Mukuro cheerily ignored it._

 _****Turns out, what Fran lacked in emotions, he made up for with sheer tenacity._

 _*****He had a master rule book. It turned into a checklist of how many rules his Guardians had broken._

* * *

 **So sorry for not updating sooner! I got a sneaky writers block and this chapter was really fighting me.**

 **There is one or two mentions of suicide in this chapter. I really hope they weren't insensitive and if they were, I sincerely apologize.**

 **I also referenced a few other brilliant KHR fanfics! Try and spot them!**

 **Big ripple here! I hope Mukuro reads okay, he's a sassy, sadistic character but in here he's confused and disoriented. He's not quite sure how to act.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please Review/Favorite/or Follow!**


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